Respice Finem
by Nellas Bean
Summary: Interlude... part seven will be uploaded soon. Flood, dark, fog, engimatic young girl. A quest to find the answers...the depth of dreams.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Zelda and all its' characters belong to Nintendo.

**_Author's Notes:_**_ Whoa! My first post in…a year! Yay! I'll try my best to update at least once a week. But I can guarantee nothing. Also, I am incredibly rusty, so it will be nothing spectacular. Enjoy._

Respice Finem 

**Prologue**

                Darkness like no other was about the ship. The activity going on, on this precise ship, was nearly zero. In nearly zero, I am saying that there is some. Two people, who were in the galley, oblivious to the outside world and the perils that would soon come to them, were arguing. A girl and a boy, both in there late teens, shouted constantly at each other. And they quarreled here, in the galley, because no sound could escape. They battled each other with trivial matters.

                Those two were Link and Tetra, and our story begins on one of those ominous days…

                The two forms walked slowly around the room, always facing each other, always glaring. Link's cold blue eyes stared mockingly into Tetra's forest green.

                "Why can't I make you understand? We have to land, Tetra!" Link cried.

                "Pah! And what would a mere child know anyway? This black fog may be slightly out of the ordinary, but it hasn't done anything to us. I find no reason to believe your claim is as true as you make it seem!" the young woman stated flatly, folding her arms and staring holes through him.

                Frustration built up in his throat, and only common courtesy held him back. He stopped walking and looked to the ground, defeated. This fog _was_ extremely odd, and it prickled the hairs on his body until they stood on end, as a cat will when danger is near.

                Tetra smirked in triumph, eyes flashing. She didn't have to have him know just yet that this fog gave her the creeps as well, and she would land…if she knew where she was. The compass they had been using went haywire as soon as the fog got so thick you could barely see two feet in front of you.

                Four years had passed since the fall of Gannondorf. Link was now a slim sixteen year old who had grown abnormally quiet as of late; and Tetra was a seventeen year old, stubborn, and keeping everyone away from her by acting coldly. Both had grown to be almost friends, but even with four years with each other, they kept the other and an arm length of distance and would allow nothing more.

                Link was still the lowest on the chain of pirates, and still had to do the laundry, wash the dishes, and cook for everyone else. He had grown to be a great cook.

                The sound of a door opening and closing sounded behind her, and she caught a glimpse just in time to see Link dejectedly making his way out. She thought she heard: "Why doesn't she trust me?" before the door shut all the way, but it was too quiet to be too sure. She doubted he said it. Link never talked to himself.

                Tetra started pacing around the galley, thinking of the problem at hand. They were sailing in a straight line, had been for several days now, with this stupid fog…

                She closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. Link seemed to be the only one besides her that noticed something dreadfully wrong about the going ons about here. Grumbling, she made herself sit down, for pacing was only going to make her dizzy. Scratch that. It _had _made her dizzy. The age-old secret of sea-sickness erupted in her stomach, and her hands flew to her throat.

                'Not now…' she cursed bitterly, gritting her teeth. She had always been one for getting seasickness easily, and in the most stressful moments. A cliché, perhaps, that she was captain of a pirate ship. Nausea passed quickly, for she had gotten used to controlling herself; but her vision still swam in blurriness.

                Someone slammed into the room, but she couldn't see. She concentrated on getting her vision back.

                "Tetra!" someone shouted, and she recognized it as Link. His voice was high and panicky.

                "What?" she rasped, and her eyesight cleared slightly.

                "The crew…" his face paled and he broke out in cold sweat. "The crew…" he stammered along.

                "_What_?" she repeated, not liking this. Worry gnawed at the edge of her conscious.

                "Gone," Link said simply, "They're all…gone."


	2. Of Screams and Mist

Disclaimer: Zelda and all of its' characters belong to Nintendo.

Began: 11-8-03

Ended: 11-9-03

**Respice Finem**

**Part One**

                The galley was quiet for quite some time. Both of them could hear nothing but the remnants of the word "gone" flowing in the air. It took a while for the young woman to regain any sense of composure and make a sound, but all that was managed was a guttural sound, like she was choking on something. In her nervousness, one of her fingers began to twine around some loose strands of her now tan hair. Tetra shifted her weight on one leg to the next as she gave up trying to speak.

                Link was no different. His lips were pursed and his eyebrows knitted in concentration. He stared hard at the floor.

                In the time that the two were quiet, the ships' planks of wood clashed against each other and emitted eerie creaks around them. The ocean rocked it, like a mother to a child's cradle. Outside, the black fog that had lain dormant around the ship began to close in, flooding the deck. It wisped into every crack and cranny, into the empty beds of the missing crew, and finally into the galley.

                The temperature seemed to drop and Tetra shuddered, her teeth clattering. She rubbed her stiff arms and wondered why it got so cold.

                Link, who had nothing but a thin sleeveless vest that went to the bottom of his rib cage, fought to keep from keeling over onto the floor to curl up into a ball.  He was about to ask aloud why it was freezing when the ship lurched forward, like an invisible hand had thrust itself down onto the bow of the ship. Both of them stumbled and tripped over each other, smacking foreheads and then rolling three feet away from each other.

                Tetra's head ached and she stood up furiously, bolting out the door, ramming into a nearby wall when the ship bent sharply once again, but this time backwards. Her right arm went numb under her body weight and she stood up again, grasping firmly the railing. 

                The _Tidal _continued its' brutal twisting and turning, and it took a full twenty minutes to make her way up one set of ten stairs. At the top of this flight Tetra was shining with seat, her breathing labored, and both arms equally sore from landing on them. Link was shortly behind her, and seemed to be faring better. The dripping of rain began to sound and the captain wrinkled her face, trying to focus. 

                She got down on all fours and began crawling up, and found it easier to keep balanced. She soon reached the top and the icy rain mingling with the fog smacked the bare of her skin. Tetra, caught off guard by the drop of heat, lost her balance and found her nose was banging the floor. Pain flared in the middle of her face and she lay motionless for a moment.

                Link fingers just barely grazed her arms when she pushed herself up, wiping her face bereft of blood. He glanced at her in slight worry as she found a handhold and stood up once again. He remained kneeling and wobbled as the ship jumped again, the roar of a wave ensuing. Mist sparkled his face, and the fog caressed it just so…his spine crawled and he swabbed his face. A thunk. Tetra had tripped yet again and she was on the ground in front of him, breathing closely. Her hands were clenched and she tried to regain her breath.

                Something whistled through the air. Something like…like…the flapping of wings? 

                The duo looked upwards and saw a figure cloaked in a black robe, face obscured by the fog. Only a glistening pale eye shone through. The person grasped a silver staff, the hand so bony it seemed that the skin was stretched, like a thin layer of butter on toast.

                Link's gut feeling was to run, his stomach churning, for this encounter did not feel at all right. His feet stayed planted to the ground, and he gulped, cold sweat swarming his face. He gritted his teeth.

                A sucking sound began, lasting so long but then ending short enough for the two of them to figure out it was a breath. _His_ inhale. Their ears perked. The black fog thickened and it felt like they were bathing in freezing water. An exhale. The cold froze deeper, chilling past the skin.

                And then a bone-numbing shriek came. Not human. Anything but human. It was not a flat out scream, but filled with clicks of the tongue and hisses from the back of the throat. A primitive language. 

                Their ears ached, and when the screaming stopped at last it stayed within their eardrums. A heartbeat. Thump-thump. Louder, and louder still! It grew steadily until it became a roar. Louder, _louder_! Link clapped his hands over his ears and it still grew on. His ears would burst! A scream. His own? Perhaps. It was shrill, lacking of the clicks the previous contained. Another scream. Higher pitched. Thump-thump-thump.

                He stumbled and kneeled over, shouting, and yet it could not be heard. The drumming of the heart deafening. He tore at his hair. It still grew, oh; his head would split if it continued anymore! And it would not, he was dwarfed by its' tremendous power, it would grow, and grow, grow, grow! His eyes rolled around lazily.

                It stopped.

                The silence that followed was heard. Oh, it was heard. His head spun and he vomited, weak and shaky. His arms barely held him up. The black fog was gone and he looked out of the corner of his eyes and saw no man, no enigma of a sound. His strength gave and he rolled to the deck, his cheek pressing against the cool wood. His eyes closed.

                Nearby, a raven was perched.

**Author's Notes:** _Geez, I know that was incredibly short. But if I wanted to keep my little oath and update at least once a week, this is all I could produce. And I know I need to work on staying in one viewpoint, but there is always next week, no? Once again I apologize for this mishap. I wanted this chapter to be longer, but it didn't work out the way I wanted it to._

_Credit where it is due: Edgar A. Poe's: "_A Tell-Tale Heart"_ and _"The Raven"_ largely inspired me.  _


	3. Wynn

Disclaimer: Zelda and all of its' characters belong to Nintendo.

Began: 11-14-03

Ended: 11-16-03

**Forward:** _Hey, I'm being smart for once…and beginning on a Friday! Just to let you know, this is my first wing it at writing in second person. My experiment, see? I thought it would be interesting aspect to add on, also earn some experience. Expect to see more and more of it as the story progresses. (For those of you that don't know, second person is addressing the reader…like: "You hold a cloth. It is blue with embroidery on it and touching it with your fingertips makes it hard not to touch it." If that doesn't help, you'll see.) Oh yes, there is much of this story on the cutting room floor, more so than what is write, pointless information, but hey._

**Respice Finem**

**Part Two**

                Tetra awoke sometime later. Head groggy, she opened her eye lids and saw the pale figure of the moon above. Cool water slapped her feet. 

                It took a moment for her to regain herself and realize that she was awake. And only then did she notice the uncomfortable pressure on her wrist, and it was twisted beneath her. And, in knowing this, the rest of her body seemed to spring alive and all of a sudden she was full of aches and pains, all concentrating onto her head, which beat dully. Her neck fell to its' side of its own free will, and right then her eyes could have neatly rolled out.

                She was not on the ship!

                The pirate shot up and looked around her frantically.

                She was on the beach, her feet on the edge of the risen tide, foam sticking to her booted feet. Lush trees densely owned the land five feet behind her. A single cliff juts out nearby; a gathering of boulders nears the top overlooking the mass of blue. Small clouds licked the sky, gently moving forward on the wind current.

                In her frenzy, Tetra had leaned on her shoulders and the wrist that had been twisted beneath her was hit against the ground. Upon contact the world seemed to dissolve and only the twinge of her wrist remained.

                A cry broke from end to end the silence of the night, splitting it like the ripping of paper. The young woman had shrieked and was now clutching her arm, her mouth stretched so that teeth showed themselves colliding each other. 

                Embers of burgundy tainted her vision, and Tetra was giving it all she could to hold back the growing throb. Sweat washed down her face, her legs fidgeting, kicking the sand this way and that. All this and still the pain of the wrist towered above her.

                She closed her eyes and tried to get back under control, but instead of opening her eyes in serenity, she found herself tumbling towards a light…and losing consciousness.

_____________________________________________________________________

                You stand in a dark room. You are tired and exhausted, but somehow awake enough to examine your habitat. There is a purple rug beneath your feet, and even through the tough leather of your boots you can still feel that it is soft, plushy material. A welcoming mat. Your feet seem to have a mind of their own and your drawing doodles into the ground with your right foot. You fold your arms behind your back and look around. It is a round room, which pinnacles upward like that in a cathedral. A tattered maroon curtain dangles to your left, and, curious, you walk toward it. Extending an arm, you gingerly graze the shredded ends of the curtain. Light winks in, fades, and disappears.

                This catches your attention. You stretch upward, take hold of the curtain, and pull sideways. A ripping sound occurs and the beat up curtain falls, age old dust flying into the air. You cough, grime entering your throat. It takes a few instants for you to realize there is no light flowing in. You forget your throat.

                There is no window.

                Despair clings to your insides, and yet you do not know why. A sob escapes and you fall to your knees, trembling with sorrow. You pound the floor in frustration. The feeling: "This is not as it should be," repeats itself over and over. "_God_!" you scream. "_God_!"

                "There is no god," there is a voice. You look around yourself suspiciously.

                "_Tetra…_" the same voice says, droning onward onto a speech foreign to your ears. There is no one in the room.

                It repeats, a hollow voice. Flat, it had the same effects as…

                _A scream, full of clicks and guttural hisses. _

_                "Tetra…" _and you can make no sense of it. A memory, on the tip of being remembered before it obscures into the darkness once again. "Tetra."

                You zip around, and although no one is there, you feel like you are being watched. You spin around several times before giving up. "Tetra."

                That time it was whispered into the ear. You yelp and back up into a wall. Your eyes are wide.

                "The seal will not hold much longer," the voice warns, this time from above. Something is brushing against you back, and you look. Fear is taking you. A black expanse lies behind you, and it has leached onto your legs. You pull, but it is stronger. Half your body is covered and you reach out frantically, trying to grab something not there.

                Your hand is gripped and you are thrust out. You look around for your savior and find no one. 

                "The seal that has upheld…" some of it falls unheard, "-for centuries…she is mad. She can no longer hold it back…infests…help…her…"

                A blinding light snaps out of nowhere. It fades, and a figure…starts to form…

_____________________________________________________________________

                A shout was heard, and Tetra woke up to find it was her own. She gulped in heavy gasps, and a young girl walked over to her. 

                "Shhh…calm down, you're alright. You're fine," the girl whispered, smiling amiably. Her dark red curly hair bounced as she walked along. She was wearing a simple blue dress with a claret shawl wrapped around her neck and tied on her chest. A fine fire was burning in the fireplace.

                The pirate was shocked yet again. First she was on the beach…now…under the supervision…of a small girl no older than ten?

                She tried to speak and found she couldn't.

                The little girl fiddled with something in front of her, having her back turned to Tetra. A smell of food cooking traveled into her nostrils. Suddenly it seemed as if she hadn't eaten in days. Her stomach growled uncomfortably.

                The girl turned around again, and walked over once again, and sat down on a chair nearby. Tetra watched her, a little flustered.

                "Well, well," the girl began. "I'm glad you're up."  
                I am too, the pirate wanted to say.

                The girl continued as if she had heard. "My name is Wynn. And before you ask, both of you are on the island of the Wolf. I found you two on the beach…"

                Two? Tetra looked the opposite way and saw Link resting in a separate bed close to her. She felt a little guilty for forgetting he was there, but it was no surprise…he made himself so inconspicuous at times that one could hardly tell he was in the same room as you. Tetra looked back to the girl, a thousand questions just waiting to burst in he mouth, but her tongue would not cooperate and she remained silent, albeit a aggravated visage was upon her.

                And still the girl continued, as if interpreting Tetra thoughts like they had been spoken distinctly. But her words fell on dead ears, for Tetra ceased in listening and was glancing around herself, the aroma of the food rapidly attacked her empty stomach. She speculated about when she had had her last meal. Another question she wanted to ask.

                "…I guess I should stop talking since it seems that you are not listening to a thing I say. I might just as well talk to a wall," Wynn hmphed and stood up. "When you have the courtesy to listen I'll be happy to repeat myself."

                Tetra felt even more culpable now, she had not meant to be so obvious. She pain attention to the girl as she walked around the room, going back to the cooking and stirring.

                Her stomach spoke for her. The pirates face reddened.

                Wynn faced her with a grin on her face. "Hungry, eh?" she asked, and started to shake with laughter, "It'll be done in about the time you can get yourself out of bed. Can't coddle you forever." 

                Another question. Tetra felt the need to shut this girl up if she was going to keep her peace with not being able to ask the subject at hand.

                "Alright now, Tetra, you can sit up on your own. Give it a shot," Wynn stated, folding her arms and leaning against the wall.

                The words were spilling out before Tetra noticed she had said anything, "Name…my name…?"

                "You spoke a lot in your dreams," Wynn answered quickly. Too quickly. It sounded more like an excuse than most.

                But Tetra muddled mind could not comprehend this and took the answer for granted. She shifted in her seat, remembered her wrist as soon as she had put weight on it. Tetra paled, waiting for the shock of pain to come. A moment passed…and then another…

                None came.

                The seventeen-year-old was stunned. Lifting her arm, she saw that it was professionally wrapped in a bandage, two wooden sticks acting as a splint. She flexed her fingers, giving a fleeting look to Wynn. Is this your doing?

                "Your wrist was broken…I mended it best I could," the girl replied, seeing Tetra's quizzing face.

                Broken… Tetra had never broken anything in her life, rough as it was. She stared at her wrist.

                "Come on, Tetra. Get up, you can stare at your wrist later," Wynn said, slightly whiney.

                The pirate ignored this and sat up with a surprising ease. Her back was loose, and she stretched. Her movements were felt, whereas before she could move and not feel a thing. It was an odd feeling, like she was in water. She soon found that her other hand was bound as well, and she bent them as well. She moved her legs out of bed and hung them over. From then on what she was doing did not feel like she was the one moving, like a dream. She slipped her boots on, for they were nearby. After that, Tetra slowly, very, very slowly stood up. It seemed to take an eternity. Standing up straight, her legs wobbled. She held her balance a moment too long without support when her knees buckled. She flew forward.

                The amount of pressure hitting her wrist that time made it ache, but no more than a dull thumping in her fingertips. 

                Abruptly she felt queasy, rolling around so her back was to the ground, she finally realized that she had landed half on Link and was pushing on him. Her face flustered as she shoved off onto her own bed to find him looking quietly at her. Tetra bit her lip in embarrassment in this awkward scenario.

                Wynn noticed the silence. "Well, great job, Tetra! You recover fast for one has been in contact with the Dark. Here's some soup, it'll make the queasy feeling go away."

                How could you know that? How? Tetra asked yet again in her mind. She looked at the bowl in her lap and her stomach leapt to her throat. Food sounded great…why did it make her feel awful, then? She took a slow bit, swallowing it swiftly.

                It warmed her throat, and she could feel it moving into her system. She waited a couple seconds, and then the nausea began to creep back. She took another bite. She lost the awareness that Link was staring at her, but ten minutes later, when she finished, she was slightly annoyed that that had been the only thing he had done that entire block of time.

                "Don't you have anything else to look at?" Tetra asked, and her face brightened. She could speak!

                Link looked away, saying nothing. He stared dully at the ceiling.

                Wynn walked over and took Tetra's bowl. She said to Link, "Alright, as long as you're up and moving by the time the sun goes down you two will be free to walk wherever you want. I understand that you feel weak, and perhaps don't even feel alive at the moment, but I want you to give it your best. Succumbing to the Dark will only end up in something that you do not wish to be. That is all I ask of you two," she paused a second, thinking, "If you are able to be up and about by tomorrow afternoon without feeling sick I will take you to see the Shaman. She's the one that sent me to rescue you," she introduced herself to him.

                The young man opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

                Tetra sympathized; it was an awful feeling, not being able to talk. She tried to stand up again, but Wynn caught her just in time to command, "Sit down. You walking around here will not help anything. Please, trust me…I know what I'm doing."

                "What are you doing, exactly?" Tetra asked, sitting down.

                Wynn's face seemed to fade into shadow. "I have said before, you have recovered unbelievably fast from the encounter of the Dark. An average person would be bedridden for days, and when he or she woke up, unable to move. Such are the effects. I want you to take it slow. Pushing yourself could be disastrous."

                "You sure don't speak like a kid," Tetra commented.

                Wynn smiled, "Looks can be deceiving."

                "…Dark…" Link garbled incoherently. So quiet it was just barely accounted for a whisper.

                Wynn looked at him, pity lucid on her face. She sighed and ruffled her hair. Speaking about the Dark looked like it took a lot out of her.

                "You were on a ship, correct? And you are the captain," she motioned to Tetra, who nodded. "The fog, do you remember it?"

                This struck them both as odd. It seemed familiar… Tetra was on the verge of remembering…it vanished.

                "Ah, one of the side effects of those that escape…it buries the memories…" Wynn gnawed on the edge of her thumb. "Well, the fog, if you will remember it, as I'm sure you will, is a part of the Dark. It spawns in large, open places where it is desolate, free of life and all good. It traps those that somehow wander in it, either getting lost or examining in the fog. It does not care, once you are in a Spawn, it leeches, it will gradually dissolve all emotions until you are an empty automaton. You two sensed that something was wrong about the fog, trust me that you did, and so you were able to keep the good in you longer than any of the others-"

                "Others!" Tetra cried, memories gushing back to her, "What happened to them? My crew!"

                Wynn kept silent.

                "Please!" Tetra pleaded, "Where are they? Tell me!"

                "I am sorry…" the girl replied, looking to the ground, "But I know nothing of them. The Shaman knows, you can ask her."

                Tetra sadly glanced at Link, who held a grimace. Niko had been the guy that had always hung out with him when everyone else followed Tetra. Niko's swabbie, and according to Niko Link was his best swabbie ever. Tetra held back the guilt that came with four years of shunting Link try as he might. She slouched in her seat. She thought herself a monster.

                Wynn told Link, "Now, same as Tetra, I want you to try standing up before I give you your food." A feeble attempt to change the subject.

                Link moved almost like a robot. His face betrayed no emotion as he sat right up and was on his way to standing. But, like Tetra, his legs were wobbly and he could no sooner hold his balance than a block of lead on his head. He fell backward into a sitting position.

                The girl congratulated him, and handed him his bowl of soup. His face was an odd shade of green.

                Tetra looked to the ground, rocking her feet. He finished it as quickly as she had.

                "I want to walk around," Tetra said simply. "I don't want to lay down all day."

                "That's too bad then. I can't let you do that," Wynn said sternly, eyes flashing. "You wouldn't want to get worse, now, would you? Take my word for it, it works fast in the body and if you let it do its work, it will. You stay here. A little patience has never killed anyone."

                Tetra stayed put. Four years ago she would be raving by now, wringing the object closest to her. But that was then and this was now. She lied down and rolled so her back was facing the two, pulling the covers over her, she fell into a restless sleep.

_____________________________________________________________________

                You are in the same room as before, but something is different. It is a large expanse of blackness, and you feel awkward walking on something that seemingly has no solidity whatsoever. You can see yourself, somehow, even though there is no light to shine. You look at your hand and it is bound with two sticks. You wave it around. Satisfied, you let it dangle to your side and you step forward, your footfalls deafeningly silent. Your feet are now trudging in something mucky, and your breath becomes labored. With each step the next becomes heavier, and with each breath the next is wheezed. Someone wringing your lungs.

                You trudge for what seems to be an eternity. You realize that you are in a dream, and want it to end. But who can decide when the dream shall end? You trudge on, and on, and on. You feel like you are breathing through a straw, your steps like dragging trees on each foot. Your energy is fading, and the muck is sucking you in.

                You've hit a wall.

                It is a transparant wall, like glass. It is smooth to the touch and you can see for miles ahead the barren wasteland. You are up to your waist now...you squint your eyes...

                A person! A shout of triumph comes from you.

                It is a woman. Her hair is an emerald green, spilling down past her dangling feet. She is bruised and battered, turquoise clothes hanging in tatters from her body. The thing most interesting is her face. It is peaceful, despite the wretched look of her body. She seems to be sleeping.

                You bang the wall. You scream, you shout. You must wake her up! Somehow, you need to. The mud is to your chest now. You begin to worry, you could not wake this woman! 

                The mud begins to climb faster now. You cling to the glass, but it has no hand hold. 

                A panicked scream bubbles through your throat, and you see the woman's eyes slowly, painstakingly slowly, open.

                And the last thing you see is her icy blue eyes staring at you, confused.

**Author's Notes:**_ (laughs maniacally) I'm happy with the way this turned out. It would have been longer, but I would have gotten tired of looking at it and I don't want this inspiration to go away. Not until...the last chapter so I can give up and leave you all hanging! I'm just kidding. Thanks to where it's due: Ultimate TH for reviewing my story. I know I've said this but it does mean a lot. Though I'm not one to beg for reviews, I can live without them, it's nice to know every now and then that someone likes what you are doing. Anyway, my experiment with second point of view went well...in my opinion. It could have been better, but there's always next chapter!_

_Okay, the notes are going to be a little long. A few days ago I got some huge inspiration as to what I'm going to do with this story (for right now I'm just writing what looks good, not really giving much thought as to how this will affect the plot). And I'm thinking about tying this to an Ocarina of Time story I've been struggling with for the last year. A story explaining about Hyrule's flooding. It's appealing...but I have yet to decide where I'll make the ties. If anyone can recognize the hint I put (a character) in this chapter, gets a cookie! Anyway, I've yapped for too long. Thank you for reading, and the next chapter will be up next Sunday._


	4. Memories

Disclaimer: Zelda and all of its characters belong to Nintendo.

Began: 11-21-03

**Forward:**_ First of all, I must apologize to the person I reviewed their story (you'll know who you are if you read this) I did not mean for my review to sound so insulting. I look at it and I feel like crap. I am so sorry. (Smiles weakly) I hope you can forgive me. _

_Also, the quality in this chapter…won't be so good. Or as you say: "creepy" (wonders) Everything I do seems to be creepy…I swear I've been called creepy about four times in the last three days. It's funny! I suppose I am creepy. Heh. I like calling myself that._

_Forewarning: This chapter may revolve around Link mainly, and it will switch between past and present. Or I'm hoping, I want to make it confusing. Also, this is the first time I have written any type of romance, so, when that part comes, ladeda. I have never been in that sort of situation before so I'm only going by what I've seen or read. So sue me._

Respice Finem 

**Part Three**

                The storm came upon them instantaneously. There were hardly any warnings except for the red sky at dawn. The waves battered the ship, throwing every ounce of strength into ripping the mere twig to shreds. 

            _Link's body felt like it had been torn in two. The force of the first wave had thrown him half over the railing; the only thing saving him was Tetra grip on one of his legs. He let out a shout of pain, white dotting his vision. A tug on the captain's part and he was flung to the deck, sputtering. He couldn't move._

_                The young woman delivered a swift kick to his ribs. "Get up! We need all hands! We can't slow down for some swabbie! Get _up!_"_

_                His arms wouldn't move._

_                Tetra swore loudly, grabbed him roughly, and pulled him upright. She faced him angrily, "Kid, walk it off! I need you to take the helm; I trust you can do that. Now do it!" she shoved away and darted off._

_                Link limped as fast as he could, biting his tongue. He saw the helm of the ship spinning crazily, and dimly wondered how he was going to grab hold of that and keep his grip. He looked over his shoulder and saw Tetra barking orders, and then hurried forward. For her he would try. No, he would _do.

                _He approached the wheel, and examined it. It span wildly, faster than the eye could see. No self-respecting person would throw his or her arms in there. He shivered, hope of holding it were swiftly fading. And then his arms shot out of their own accord._

_                A tremendous tension, somehow he clasped hold of handles, but his wrists felt as if they had shattered. He screamed, but held his hands steady. A jolt from the ship sent him falling to one side, and his arms were quickly burning to inferno. Tears spilled out of his eyes, mingling with the rain._

_                The time that passed after that he could not remember, but it felt like hours. A day maybe, for the storm did not abate until late the next morning. But sometime during that block a man was thrown overboard and taken by the seas. It was not until after things had calmed down that they had been able to tell._

_                Mako, the genius, had drowned._

                Tetra and Link strolled around the Isle of the Wolf quietly. They both wore garments distributed by the young Wynn, for the clothes they had arrived in were hardly adequate.

                Much to her frustration, the only thing that had been available that would fit her was a white blouse and a gray skirt that fell to her knees with simple moccasin-like boots that were soft enough to be slippers. She constantly righted her skirt, growing self-conscious every time it showed even a little skin.

                Link wore more or less the same thing, as before, the only difference was that he wore a thin long-sleeved shirt underneath the vest that covered his entire stomach. The vest was maroon and the shirt white. He wore light blue pants that drooped to just below his kneecaps. 

                The island was small, a little more that a mile in all directions from the center. Wynn's cottage was in the middle of a thick forest. The sky was gray, but not dark enough to signify later rain coming along.

                The morning had started out simple enough, waking up and eating something called _pancakes_, of which neither had ever heard of but fell in love with instantly. And then Wynn suggesting they get used to the island, for they didn't know how long they would be staying there.

                Tetra had kept the question that she had never heard of this island before to herself.

                They came upon a beach, a little surprised. The forest ended abruptly.

                Link felt nostalgic standing there, for it was very much like his home in Outset. The island had the homey feel to it; all that was lacking was more people. He stood rooted to the spot, choking homesickness in his throat before he could feel it. He had made the choice as a boy to leave his home, and he would not have any regrets.

                He turned and walked into the forest.

                _The weeks that followed the storm were silent. Everybody on the ship, although some had not known Mako so well, was in a mourning period. And everybody dealt with the pain of losing a friend silently. Link could feel dim pain, but it wasn't enough to make him feel truly sad. In those weeks, he did more work than anyone combined._

_                He walked about. His wrists had nearly been broken in handling the helm, but instead were heavily bruised. They were bound in cloth. _

_                His destination was nowhere in particular; all the preliminary jobs had been taken care of thrice over. Perhaps he wanted to see Tetra, for she had kept to herself and no one had seen her. It was the dead of night, and the only source of light was the full moon's pale auras._

_                Link stepped to the bow of the ship. The part of the _Tidal_ that had taken the most damage; much of the railing was missing, as was the anchor on the starboard. No one was there._

_                He spent an hour searching, sometimes forgetting that he was searching. He found Tetra at last in the crow's nest, staring dully forward._

_                At first he was surprised, for being the watchman was not her job. But shock quickly wore off as he lightly approached her._

_                "Hello," she said quietly, gripping the handrail. Her voice was shaky. It had taken a lot to force it out._

_                "…Hi," Link replied, standing next to her. Fourteen years old, and Tetra a year older, it made him slightly lose his equanimity. He made a small attempt to smile, "Haven't seen you in awhile…are you okay?"_

_                It was long in coming for her to answer, but he waited. Forcing her to speak was asking for doom. He gazed at the moon._

_                "…Everybody…except you, on this ship…I've known since I was a little girl. Scratch that, my whole life," Tetra mumbled. She squeezed her eyes shut, a pressure slowly crawling up her gullet. "Ever since…my mom died, I've always…tried to make sure I could live up to her…keep them all safe…" she took a breath. _

_                "Losing Mako…is so _hard_…"_

Link sat down upon a stump, slouching. He had not thought about home in Outset for a long time, and now that he had seen the beach, memories of a past life were flooding onto him. Thoughts of his grandmother and Aryll hurt the most. He felt he had betrayed them in abandoning them to the island. He gritted his teeth.

                Aryll would be…thirteen now…

                He wondered what she looked like, and thought to himself: 'Once I can get my own ship, I'll visit them.'

                Tetra came into the thicket. "Hey," she said, "What's going on? You just walked off."

                "Nothing," he replied quickly, "Seeing the beach just brought some memories back."

                "Oh," Tetra said simply as she leaned against a tree across from him, once again fixing her skirt. "You just now feel guilty about leaving them?"

                "I'm not _guilty_," Link snapped, "I just wondered what Aryll would look like. She'd be thirteen by now, you know."

"Really? That old, eh? Well then, I wonder what the kiddo looks like now, too," Tetra grinned, folding her arms. 

                Link sat in quiet.

                "Hey, listen. So you've missed out on the four years of the girl's life. That was your choice, you can't go back and change it," she thought for a moment, "The best you can do is look towards the future…" she stopped, "Whoa, I sound like a preacher."

                Link chuckled, and then stood up.

                "Thank you," he said to her, "Shall we go?"

                _Link was looking at Tetra now. Her eyes were shut tight, and her mouth was stretched in a pained grimace. He tried to understand how she was feeling, and the best he could relate is when Aryll had been taken by Gannondorf's Thunderbird. He gathered his courage, and reached out, his left hand taking her right softly. His heartbeat pounded in his chest, feeling her hand in his. He bit his tongue, glancing at her._

_                Her hand squeezed back gently._

_                He flustered, seeing her look at him. But he kept eye contact, to look over her shoulder would be offensive right now. Her dark green eyes pierced into his. So full of pain…he wanted to make it go away, he didn't want her to suffer anymore. Unshed tears lay blocked behind her eyelid, and he wished to wipe them away. His other hand was near her face when he stopped, suddenly realizing whom this was. His hand hovered in front of her face._

_                "Don't stop," she said quietly, desperately._

_                His hand brushed underneath her eyes, feeling cold skin below his palm. Tetra kept looking at him sadly, but feeling his hand upon her face made her stiffen at first, but she settled down. She hadn't let someone touch her since her mother… A foreign feeling came to her in the pit of her stomach, and it felt…pleasant._

_                Link let his hand linger on her face before pulling away, tears wiped bereft from her. He awkwardly let his thumb on his other hand caress hers. What would he do next? He didn't know. He thought maybe he should go…to let her have her space…_

_                Before he knew what was happening Tetra had pulled her hand away and was hugging him, her head buried into his shoulder. He stood rigid for a moment, never expecting this. He was extremely surprised when he felt Tetra shuddering, and a realization came over him._

_                Tetra was crying._

Wynn found them in the thicket, and, bounding in cheerfully. "Hi there!"

                Link looked behind him, seeing the little girl's joyous face brought him something to question, but he kept his mouth shut.

                "I know you guys are probably dying to see the Shaman; don't think the questions you've kept to yourself go unnoticed! She will answer as much as she can, but first…" she let her arms go around in circles, "…Are you two hungry? I could whip up some lunch."

                "No," they both said simultaneously, and got embarrassed. 

                Wynn smiled, "Well then, let me warn you that you probably won't get your next meal until tomorrow, or maybe the day after that."

                "_What_ are you talking about?" Tetra asked, touching her wrapped arm gently.

                Wynn just kept her façade. "Well, as long as I can remember, meetings with the Shaman seem to fly much faster than one would expect. Time literally flies when you speak with her. But…if you don't want lunch…" she started walking.

                Link watched her walk off, and contemplated whether they should eat or not. He decided against it, his stomach could learn a few intrinsic worth on this island. He glanced at Tetra and saw her in heavy thought.

                "Hey," he whispered, "Let's just go. Food can wait."

                She looked at him, her eyes not completely focused. She agreed, but it didn't look like she was really the one making the decision. She followed Wynn.

                Link watched her in wonder, and perhaps worry. He wished to ask what was the matter, but didn't have the chance.

                _The next day Link didn't really know what was going on. The night before he had seen Tetra at her weakest, but her most beautiful. That wasn't to say he reveled in her despair, but her outward shields had dropped, and he had seen _her_. He was at a loss of words, but the fact that a mere five minutes in the embrace, Tetra had put up her dukes again, pushing him away._

_                "Don't ever do that again!" she had said. Her voice was shaky; there wasn't enough force in the words for her to truly mean it. Fright dazzled her olive eyes. _

_                He stared after her as she had climbed down the ladder. She could've gone faster, but at the pace she was going she was stumbling every three seconds. Link could have caught up._

_                But why? To be shoved away again? True, he had not seen her that day, and he could seek if he wanted to. But to chase her, ask her why it was so hard to let others see the real her, try to comfort her; he felt confused. Sure, comforting a friend would be nothing but a bump in the path if he had defeated Gannon! But he would be doing this solo, and with the final battle with the King of Evil he had had much help._

_                He _did_ want to see her, however. But the boyish attraction he had harbored of late for her was nothing compared to the uncertainties of his thoughts. A constant war raging in his mind. He decided to let the captain deal with this on her own, and while he was at it, destroy the attraction he had at the roots. It would never work out, anyway._

Sixteen years old, and still puzzled at the settings around him, Link took step by step forward, to the light of day beyond.

**Author's Notes:** _This really didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I could've worked on this for three more hours, but I don't want an already bad piece of work to get worse. I had to end it. _

_Sadly, I only have a rough idea of what's to come in this story. And those who are looking for HEAVY romance look elsewhere. I'm thirteen, and I don't even want to try writing a make-out scene. The little part in here was struggling enough! I go for more of the plot kind of things, and though relationships are appealing, in order for it to sound convincing I want to have been in that situation first. And no, I am not going to throw myself at the next guy that comes through the door just to be in that scenario. So blah. _


	5. Farewells and Scattered Hellos

Disclaimer: Zelda and all of its' characters belong to Nintendo.

Began: 11-23-03

Ended: 11-30-03

**Forward:** _(Gasps) Wow, I'm starting a week early! Partly to make up for the crappy chapter previous. Heh. I want to make the chapters longer! (Grumbles) I'll just make myself work, work, and work some more! No videogames! Hey wait…no school Thursday or Friday…Woo! Extra days!_

_Thanks to where it's due: Ultimate TH, your story is great. And I thank you for the reviews you're submitting! Here's a cookie, but here's a hint-keep guessing, same to Carrie-Dreamer, (hands cookie)._

_It's back to Tetra and staying there, hopefully. Also, I'm entering an original copy of this into a Writing Contest (I altered some things, like the characters). Just in case a judge comes across this, to let them know I didn't copy it. Better safe than sorry, correct? And, the title and any other weird words you'll find are Latin. _

Respice Finem Part Four 

            Tetra couldn't take in what was around her. She didn't even feel like she was she. Like she had somehow crawled out of her body and was examining from a short distance away. The feeling was awkward, but it did not feel entirely unnatural either. On the contrary, it made her feels like she should submit and just not question it. It was quite demanding, yet at the same time pathetic and weak.  She watched as she was suddenly becoming farther and farther away from herself.

                Fear choked her, and it felt all wrong. Her arms threw forward and she wished that the someone who had saved her in her dream would save her again. Her feet were pasted to the ground, and she could not move them.

                Further away… What was going on?

                "Stop resisting," a voice, unable to tell the difference between male and female. Tetra blinked. The want to give in was like a burning lust, a want to give up…

Tetra stumbled in her steps, and fell to her knees.

Link walked to her, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she snapped, her chest pounding. "Let's go."

She stood up slowly, swatting away Link's palms when he tried to help. She swallowed down an urge to shiver, for she was abruptly cold. Her hands numbed and she still walked on.

Wynn stood in front of a grove of trees that blocked the way. She waited patiently for the duo to catch up, and when they did, she faced them.

"Are you ready?"

They nodded.

She agreed, "Well, then…you are about to witness an ancient city, dating back before the Flood. A civilization that, in that time, was near a place called Kokiri Forest." She turned around and grazed one of the trunks with her fingers. 

A precise visual of doodles, her hands swirled in intricate patterns and swirls. A faint glow came from the trails, disappearing after a short time. The patterns continued for a long time, and small lights of all shades of blue danced around the area.

Tetra watched, entranced. With each swirl, a leaf fell, and with the leaf tapping the ground, a blue light. A wonderful experience, a scent of books as old as time itself wafted into their nostrils. Voices, singing, all memories but so close she could just touch them…

She looked at Link, and saw him glancing around in as much awe as she. In doing this, he looked ten years younger, his mouth hung slack. It took all she could to hold back a laugh.

Something cracking. Tetra averted her attention to Wynn, and her eyes widened.

Several little people, the size of her hand, her running all up and down the tree trunks. Wings on their backs, they flew erratically. And the trees…were moving…!

A couple of the fairy's perched themselves on Tetra, Link, and Wynn's shoulders of head. It surprised the pirate at first, but soon she grew to enjoy to garbling of these little people in her ear. A language that seemed to flow into one word, and with the right sounds to make it sound round, if that is the right word.

A world of winter colors met their eyes. It looked as if to be underwater, and in a mirror, all at once. There were many floating trails of blue light in there.

Wynn motioned them forward, and they followed willingly. The moment they stepped into the land of blue, it seemed they had walked into one world, and left the land behind them.

The trees closed up behind them silently.

The world seemed to tower up and up, and it didn't take them long to realize that this entire villa was inside a gigantic tree. It was a tremendous stump, and hollow, so it allowed room to live in, and quite the sky view.

A quiet tune of singing, Tetra's ears could just barely pick it up. She wondered what, or, who was singing. She looked at the fairies on her shoulder and found them dancing. She smiled. They were the ones crooning.

Wynn brought them to the center where a clear lake resided. "Stop," she said to them.

Tetra listened to her. "What is this place?"

"This lake? Or the entire whole?"

"Both."

Wynn smiled, "This place is the Rutay region of the Kokiri Forest, but they lived far enough apart to be considered different villages. The Rutay came from a land separate from Hyrule," she examined their puzzled look, "-What? Did you think Hyrule was the only land in the world?"

"Uh…well…" Tetra stammered.

"No," Link spoke up, "Hylians had elf ears, like us. The other lands…their ears were round, and they were generally taller than them."

"Right! And you know Fado? The sage."

 Link nodded, though Tetra didn't know what they were talking about.

"He was from here," she shrugged, "And then one day a Kokiri accidentally stumbled along into their village and he decided to live with the them instead. He was half Outlandian, half Hylian. He was much criticized in life." She took a breath, "Okay, this isn't a history lesson. But to answer your other question, this lake is called _Resergam._ Translated, it means 'I shall rise again'."

The strange word seemed strangely familiar. It was another one of those memories that always evaded being remembered. She suited herself to listening to the chanting of the fairies.

"One at a time now, which of you will see the Shaman first?" Wynn asked.

Tetra shrugged slowly, as to not disturb the people on her shoulders. Link was much the same.

The little girl sighed. "Fine, I'll choose. Link, I want you to go first."

Link nodded, and, looking nervously back to Tetra, stepped forward. "What do I do?"

"…Just step into the water. Walk to the middle," Wynn said.

He looked at her, "Just walk…?"

She agreed.

"Um…okay…" he said tensely. He took a step into the water, pushed down… Solid ground pushed up, and he stared, surprised. He took another step. He was walking _on_ the water! He hurried to the middle and looked back. "Now wha-" he stopped himself and watched as the lake water began to circle him. It span, it came upward, enveloping him.

Tetra let her mouth drop as he disappeared. "Wha-what? Where'd he go?"

"Worried?" Wynn teased.

"He's my responsibility," Tetra sad swiftly.

"You make him sound like he's five. Have you ever considered that he doesn't have to be your responsibility? I mean; he's a year younger than you."

"So?" Tetra asked, folding her arms.

"He's fine," Wynn, answered, "The Shaman will send him back when he wishes to leave."

"And that will be…how long?"

"It depends on how much he's hiding," the girl muttered.

The young woman began to worry about what she and the Shaman would talk about. There were plenty of things she kept to herself, would they have to talk about every little thing? She sat down and leaned against a tree, closing her eyes.

Time really did pass quickly there, and when Tetra fell asleep it felt like she had been asleep for five minutes before someone was shaking her. She opened her eyes and stared dully at Wynn, Link standing close behind. It was night.

"Hey, it's your turn," Wynn said.

Tetra didn't want to anymore, but Link was pulling her up. He looked older, and there was something different in his eyes when he looked at her.  He smiled, "Go on. You'll be fine. She doesn't bite."

"I didn't say she did," Tetra muttered darkly, standing in front of the pool. She swatted his hand away like a bug.

The body of water was indeed crystal clear; in fact, it gave a new meaning to it. It didn't look like there was any water there at all. She took a tentative tread forward. Everything seemed to be happening just as it had happened with Link, she hopped to the center and waited.

It happened gradually, but by the time she realized she was sinking instead of disappearing it was too late. The winter colors of the area suddenly transformed completely into a blaze of the hells below; the fairy people darted to Tetra, clawing, swiping. Her hands flew in front of her face and the bandage on her arm was tearing. Blood trickled down her body; she flung herself into the water-

-to find herself resurfacing. 

She gulped in a breath, and dared to look at her arms. Battered and scratched, her vision swam beneath her eyes. Her arms had been shredded, and were bleeding profusely. Her broken wrist was lying naked to the world. And strangely, she did not hurt.

Tetra wondered if she was dead.

She shuddered, and began to walk in her surroundings. Behind her was a white land of nothing, in front and darkening haze. She squinted, and stopped completely when she saw someone walking towards her.

It was a middle-aged man, dressed formally in a gray tunic with golden embroidery. A fencing sword was clasped at his side. White pants were worn, a fancy imagery of blue sewing here and there, one of a dragon.  Glossy black boots adorned his feet, buckled halfway up his shin. He was wearing an outfit that had been worn in the royalty hundreds of years ago. He bowed halfway, white-blue hair falling over his face.

"Good evening," he said clearly. His accent was old as well, sounding out every syllable of the word and tying the words together somehow to make it flow. It reminded her of the fairy speak.

She suddenly grew self-conscious in her bruised state; she hid her arms behind her back. "Uh…hi…"

"Ah," he said, smiling, his eyes twinkling, "You do not feel comfortable seeing the Shaman like that? I do agree that it is…" he stopped, "Forgive me. Come along, I shall have someone clean you up."

The prospect of having someone else clean her was awkward, and the captain of the Tidal blushed, following him. A hallway appeared out of nowhere and they were striding on dark red, velvet carpet. She felt again like she had truly stepped into another world. The walls were made of rocks that had not been shaped in any way. She thought this odd, for making a building one would have wanted to use blocks to build with, sturdier, and easier to use. Tetra bumped into the man. 

She muddled, spluttering, "S-s-sorry…"

"What of it? Wait in here and I'll send someone right along," he motioned to the door on her right. He was walking away when she stopped him.

"H-hey…I don't want to be a burden…I mean, thank you, but, I…"

He smiled, "You needn't worry, madam. It is not a burden. Please; make yourself comfortable."

Tetra felt there was no way out of it. She walked over to the bed and sat down, feeling rather uncomfortable in the huge room. The bed itself was big enough for her to have to really work at it to fall off. She kicked off her tattered boots and didn't even bother to fiddle at the remains of her skirt.

Her skirt!

Realization dawned as she suddenly realized she must have been half naked to the man, and her face burned. She snagged a pillow among many and tried to cover herself. Tetra could have laughed that it was an easy thing to do, for the pillow was easily as big as her, but she was too preoccupied to notice anything else.

The person promised in coming took long in appearing. Long enough (Tetra thought it was planned), for her to calm down and realize how soft the bed was. If this is what royalty had in the days of millennia ago, then royalty truly had the heavens. She would have liked to roll around and jump like she was five again, but mere modesty kept her rooted to the spot.

A woman that looked her age walked in titivated in a light green blouse and navy blue trousers. Her hair was trimmed to her shoulders, and the same white-blue color of the man. She bowed politely to Tetra. "Hello."

The pirate's grip on the pillow tightened, and she felt like her face was going to burst with how mortified she was. Her mouthed worked with a greeting, but nothing came. She didn't exactly want to be touched by another person.

The other woman introduced herself, "I am Namay, a servant of this house of _Resergam_," she was somehow easy to trust. Namay walked over and pulled back some curtains and a bath lay exposed.

Tetra let out a held breath. She was relieved, at least the bath wasn't big. A silly thought, perhaps, but all this hugeness of the objects around her was a little overwhelming, made her feel…sort of the opposite of claustrophobic. It was an odd feeling.

The bath was running, and Tetra was snapped back into nervousness. She didn't want to be washed by another! But it seemed there was going to be no way around it, despite her silent pleas. She squeezed the pillow until she was confident it would burst.

'Calm _down_,' she chided herself, 'She's the one that offered! Stop panicking! She'll probably forget me by tomorrow anyway…' she closed her eyes, and wondered heartily how royalty could handle being dressed by others, bathed by others, and fed by others. She wondered, didn't they ever feel lazy? 

Namay was done filling the tub, and, brushing a hand through it briefly, she turned around, satisfied. "Come along, madam, this will only take a few minutes."

Tetra shook, tried to move, but didn't. She grew angry with herself.

Namay only nodded knowingly. "Are you so modest? Relax… There's nothing to be ashamed of," she assured her, but the other just stared at her disbelievingly.

Yet, somehow or another, Tetra managed to get in the tub only by sealing her conscience away. She moved like a puppet, however, and Namay kept her disappointment to herself. 

There was something special about the way Namay's hands worked fluently on her back, cleaning cuts, and rubbing in circular motions certain pressure points that made her loosen up incredibly. Namay looked at the back of Tetra's neck and saw two jagged scars.

"Where did you get those?" she asked, carefully touching them. She snatched her hand back, eyes wide, as if she had been burned.

"…Don't remember," Tetra said simply, flatly. "They've been there for a long time though."

"Interesting," Namay said, looking at the hand she had touched it with. Already fading, she saw that she had indeed been burned; the scorch marks were rapidly disappearing on her fingertips. "Let me see your arms, we're almost done."

Tetra obeyed without question, but suddenly at the last second while she was turning around did she remember where she was. She fumbled and tried to cover herself.

Namay sighed, "Please, I am not out to shame you. I have seen naked women before, now please, give me your arm."

Tetra shut her eyes and extended her arm, wishing it was over already.

Namay seemed to have heard this and worked quickly, it was over before she knew it, and she wrapped a towel tightly around herself.

"Here," Namay stated, leaving a bundle of clothing on the bed, "I am sure you do not want me dressing you as well, so, here. If you need help I'll be right outside."

Tetra sent a nimble word of thanks and picked up the first layer of clothes, finding that both of her arms were wrapped from the bottom of her fingers to below her elbow in pure white cloth. 

______________

Tetra came out of the room clothed in a baby blue tunic and loose gray trousers. She wore black leather boots that went up halfway her calf. She rather liked her outfit.

She saw Namay leaning against a wall, and she thanked her and apologized for her misconduct of before.

"It does not matter," she answered, "There are many like you who are nervous about things like being uncovered. Are you ready to be off?"

The question caught Tetra off guard, and she remembered (she seemed to forget a lot of things in this place) why she was here in the first place. She nodded.

"Well then, follow me," Namay said, and they walked the way Tetra had come from.

Like before, except the opposite, the hallway vanished and they were walking on something seemingly not there. Tetra hurried to keep up with Namay.

And then another hallway appeared, but this time the walls were clean cut, and a lighter bluish gray than the other. Ahead lies a single wooden door. They approached it.

Namay put her hand on the door and looked to Tetra, "I can go no further," seeing the pirate's questioning look, she replied, "My place is here. I have other things to do…" she bowed once again to Tetra, "It was lovely knowing you, madam. I hope we may meet again."

Tetra replied, "I hope so too," and didn't watch as she walked away. She stared at the door. Gathering courage, she pushed with her left hand and it swung open…

She stepped in, and at first the light was blinding; she had to cover her eyes. Light soon faded, and she was able to look around.

Her shock was undeniable on her face. All around, a field of purple grass! She looked behind her and there was no door. The sky was still blue, but it looked awkward in comparison to the purple. A rushing. There was a waterfall to her right and the field she was in seemed to expand. Stretched as far as the eye could see were forests of maroon leaves and periwinkle flowers.

Tetra stood as rigid a rock. How was she supposed to find the Shaman in this place? It was huge!

Her feet moved of her own accord, and her left hand was forward, being tugged, like a mother will to a child through a crowd. She didn't bother to question the phenomena, and instead just let it take her, be it ill omen or good fortune. Her surroundings flew past her faster than she was walking and she found that a little awkward, but found this was another thing she need not question.

They were going through a forest. They? She wondered why she thought 'they'. She was alone, no? No, she wasn't, there was someone or some_thing_ there. Tetra stopped and wondered where she was.

In a grove of trees she stood, purple. Purple everywhere.

"Ah…hello, hello!"

Tetra snapped around, pressing her back into a tree. A man not looking to be much older than her stepped to her. Blue-white hair, and a young, round face like one who had never grown up over the age of eight, he wore long light blue robes. He was smiling clumsily, strumming a harp and singing in a clear voice a language that the fairy folk had sung. The pirate drew back, appalled. Surely this wasn't the Shaman…was it? 

He danced around, singing with enchantment a beat that was irresistible. She soon found her right foot tapping right along. Tetra was disappointed, and wished to tell him to shut up, for she had never liked those who were immediately likeable. She glared.

He finished almost as abruptly as she opened her mouth to indeed tell him to stuff a cork in it. He slipped the harp into the branches of a tree above him, and smiled with his teeth. She flustered, hating her for thinking he was handsome.

He made a small inclination to bow and walked to her, stopping just on the boundary of her personal space. 

Tetra didn't say anything, daring him to speak first.

He complied, brushing a hand through his locks of hair. "Let's skip names. Call me what you will. Scruffy, call me Scruffy!" he smiled cheerfully, "You don't think I am much of a Shaman, do you? Tut, tut, girl, as little Wynn says, appearances can be deceiving." He wagged a forefinger in front of his face.

Tetra wanted to kick him. "Go away," she snapped.

He drew back, mocking offence. "But _you_, my dear Tetra, are the one who came to see _me_. Of the two of us, I should be the one to tell you to 'go away'. You want answers, right? I have answers to the questions you wish to ask. All that is required is you to tell me, love, and then you can tell me to 'go away'. But, I think I'll enjoy our conversation," he grinned flirtatiously, leaning back into a chair that the trees formed for him with their branches. "Please, sit."

"No, _Scruffy_, I'd prefer to stand," she spat viciously.

He didn't take offence, just shrugged unceremoniously and kept his oblique smile, golden cat eyes glinting in an invisible light. He got comfortable in his seat.

"So," he said, "Ask me."

Her lock on questions seemed to break, despite her growing hate of him. Thousands zoomed through her mind, and she couldn't choose which one, in desperation to know them all.

He seemed to notice her issue, and stared at her, mesmerized, like he had never seen something like this occur. He leaned his chin into his hand.

"Tell me your name," she demanded.

"I already have," he said.

"That's a dogs' name."

"So it is."

"Tell me."

"Give me good reason, and I shall," my, he was enjoying himself.

"I don't feel comfortable calling you Scruffy."

He grinned, as if he had accomplished something. "My name is long, too long, it would waste time. Just call me Lusues."

 The name was odd, but she sped onto the next question. "Where is this Isle of the Wolf?"

"In Outlandian country," he said simply, "You should have figured that out, it's simple to put two and two together."

She ignored him, pressing herself firmly into the tree. The next question, it seemed to be the one question that would answer thousands, and she couldn't get her tongue to cooperate.

_"Where…is…my…crew?_"

He looked contemplative at last, and his eyes dimmed. He sighed, rubbing his temples, "That I cannot tell you."

Tetra flew into a rage. "Just why the hell not?" she shouted, running to him and snatching the scruff of his neck, "I'm sick of being kept in the shadows! So _sick_ I want to throw up! This…Dark…whatever it is, I want to know! And I meet someone who says he has all the answers when he _doesn't_! Does all my life have to be coated over with lies? Hm? Tell me!" She raved, and swore! She let go of his collar and fumed around the area, a temper held back for years upon years lost its tether and let loose.

Admiration sparkled in his golden eyes, "I have the answers," he stated, "You just aren't ready to hear them. Now, _sit_," Lusues, said this firmly, and Tetra was pulled down by a branch and tied into a chair. She yelped when the pressure hit her wrist, color draining from her face.  She squirmed uneasily in her seat, twisting and turning, until fatigue forced her to stop. Lusues stood in satisfaction and he walked toward her, towering over her. She averted her gaze quickly.

"My turn to ask the questions," he said, and something gentle, something calm in his voice settled her down.

____________________

Tetra was allowed a quick nap in the room she had used previous to meeting Lusues before she could leave _Resergam_. She hadn't wanted to, but he was provocative and convincing, she was suddenly thinking this little nap would do her good.

The bed was comfortable, and she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. A trillion billion thoughts were exploding like the bombs they had stolen from that bomb shop years ago, and she could no longer keep her attention focused than a five year keep their attention on a book. It was soothing to have dreamless sleep, and when she awoke she was happy Lusues had convinced her, for the thoughts had quieted down. She made her way back to the village where Wynn and Link were much the way she had gotten here, through a lake in the expanse of white.

She found herself rolling onto the dry beach and slowly stood up, sense of feeling suddenly hurling back and she felt that she would vomit. Her arms felt on fire, and she suppressed a groan of growing pain. Tetra knelt back down, wishing she were back in that bed once again, resting.

"Tetra! Oh God, you're okay!"

The rushing of feet, strong arms wrapped around her and hefted her up. She didn't complain, only seeing the practical side of it. She didn't have to support her own weight. She looked up and saw Link beaming happily at her. The same older gaze she had seen when she'd departed. She stared at them, wondering.

Wynn walked up to them. "Hello."

"How long?" Tetra asked, surprised that she could barely hear herself. It was night, still? Had she been gone so short a time?

"Two days," Link said, his embrace loosening, but his hands gripping her arms like he wanted to keep her there, to not lose her again. Tetra could hear his heart, and she blanched.

"_Two_?" she asked, disbelieving. And her stomach seemed to answer, it growled, and she blushed, hiding her face in Link's shoulder before she knew what she was doing. And ever when she did, she didn't move. Too late now, she supposed.

Wynn chuckled, "Yes, two. Now let's head back to the small cabin here and grab a bite to eat before we head back to mine. Come along."

They walked, but Link still kept one arm around her securely. Tetra would have told him off, but decided that she would let it pass. The meeting with the Shaman had not only given her answers and a few more questions, but surprisingly, a few manners as well. Silly, maybe, and she were slightly uncomfortable and touchy with his arm around her, but he would let go…hopefully. She wondered this, because, it was a protective encircle. Would he let her go? She questioned what she would do if he didn't by the time they were at the place Wynn was mentioning.

She dared a peek to his face. A swift one, no more than a second, but a second was all she needed. It was clear that he wouldn't unless she told him to. 

The small cabin was blue, like everything else there, and still he hadn't let her go. They stopped in front of the door as Wynn strolled in, and Tetra looked at Link. "Hey…I won't be going anywhere, I promise," and hoped he would take the hint.

He did, but reluctantly. They walked into the single room cabin. Wynn was making some toast over a small fire she had going in the hearth, and the smell made Tetra's stomach growl again. The sound made her blush again, and she walked over to the table and sat down, wishing that her appetite would shush. Link sat in the chair closest to her and asked, "Let me see your arms."

She gave him her left, and he peeled the wrapping back gently, far enough to see the claw marks the attack had given. Her eyed grew wide with what he did, and she sucked in her breath when he started to stroke one of the scabs gingerly with the fingers of his other hand. She held in a shudder, the inferno in her arm cooling where his hand grazed, replaced with a different fire, persistent and spreading fast. A different blaze, one that she preferred to feel but at the same time didn't _want_ to feel…Tetra drew back her arm and placed it in her lap, her face red with fear, shame, and embarrassment. She fixed the bandage and _felt_ the disappointment in his eyes, and apologized, not wanting him to feel like she didn't like him. But her words were hard to make, and once said, made her feel even lower.

"I'm sorry…" Link said desperately, grasping what he had done and perhaps how it had affected her.

Wynn strode over and handed them both a piece of toast. "I put some special stuff on it, it may not look like much, but it'll give back a lot of your energy and fill your appetite. I'll be right outside if you need me," and she left.

The silence was uncomfortable, Link brooding in guilt and Tetra trying to find words to shun the guilt. She couldn't taste the nibbled food in her mouth, and was a little startled to find that eating a piece of bread could be so difficult. Tetra stared unwillingly at Link, and said without provocation, "So how was your meeting? With Lusues, I mean."

He closed his eyes and replied, "Different. She was different…and didn't tell me too much."

"_She_?" Tetra asked. "I'm positive Lusues is a he."

"Yes, she," Link answered curiously, locking her eyes with his, "That's odd, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Tetra replied stiffly, taking a large bite and gulping it down.

It got quiet again, and they both finished their bread at the same time. Walking outside, they saw Wynn by _Resergam_, mumbling quietly, darkly.

"We're done," Link said, and Tetra realized the masculinity of it. Deep, she marveled at how she hadn't noticed before. It seemed a whole door of things opened and she saw things she hadn't seen previous to this. He was taller than her by a few inches, and his face like a young man, not the boy she had met four years ago. She turned her gaze away, the same flames that she didn't want to feel rising dully in her face and low in her stomach. She closed her eyes and forced she to kill the emotions, smother.

They began walking again, and Tetra didn't take in her surroundings once more. Fairy people floated by, and quickly Link's arm was around her, squeezing just enough to feel safe. He glowered at them, looking like he would kill the next one who came within five feet of her.

The village of Rutay was soon behind them and they were back in the forest of the Wolf. The night was colder now; Link clutched her a little harder, but not so much to make her uncomfortable. The trek seemed long to Tetra, whom was still beating down the touchiness in her with his arm slung across her back. She looked down to the ground, not wanting the one holding her to know the feelings that she had accumulated growing, growing, and growing some more. Surely the trembling of her heart had reached his ears, and she expected that he wouldn't, and grew even more confused when she wanted him to know the uncertainty of her thoughts. Maybe she could put an arm around him as well…? But no, she wouldn't, the feelings that had more or less ruled her life for the past seven years dominating the will of the new ones springing up.

She struggled and struggled, and when she finally, at last thought she could pull it off, the cabin was in front of them. Tetra thought she could scream.

____________________________

The next day was the day the started it all. This was the day that their quest, Link and Tetra's, began.

Wynn woke them up by pouring bone cold water over their faces. They ate a tense breakfast, Link glancing at Tetra every now and then. And then after a washing (Wynn nearly had to tackle Link to the ground to keep him from following Tetra, for he wanted to be sure that the fairies weren't going to attack her again), the little girl led them to the beach where the duo had been found. Everything was as it had been, but now there was a ship, and both Link and Tetra had cried out in surprise.

The King of the Red Lions, once the only ship among the many seas to speak the words of men, was lying before them. 

Link ran to it, his hands running all over it, the peeling red paint coated with algae. Voices from the past filled his head, and he could have cried from them. He hugged the inanimate head. Tetra watched from a distance.

"Where in the world did you find this?" Tetra asked of Wynn.

"It sailed in a couple years ago," she said simply, "I didn't need it, but it seems I've found those who do. I bestow this treasure of the sea to you two."

'That's right,' Tetra mused, 'This boat was lost along with Mako that night…' she closed her eyes from the bad memory.

"I repaired the sails last night, it'll be ready to set sail as soon as you two are ready," Wynn said. "Once Link finishes revisiting the past, I'll give you instructions on what to do."

Tetra bit her lip nervously. Would they really have to sail? The boat may have been able to hold the two of them four years ago, but now? It would either be a tight fit or they'd have to somehow take turns with one of them with their legs out while the other was completely in. Or perhaps it was bigger than se remembered. She rubbed her head.

A little while later both Tetra and Link were sitting in the sand with Wynn pacing in front of them, rolling off instructions. The only ones of importance, to them, were the ones to sail straight east, land and find a city called Dylry, and there, act as two travelers who need food and shelter for a short amount of time. And don't give out their names.

________________________

Wynn had prepared two picnic baskets for them, stuffed with food. The trip, she said, would take no longer than two to three days. And even if the journey was short, it still horrified Tetra. Three days out there on the sea, alone? Three days cramped in a small boat?

She sighed, today just seemed to bring about more questions to the infinite amount she had already. 

The warnings of night were rapidly approaching, but Wynn hadn't offered yet for them to stay the night and begin the sailing at dawn. But, neither of them expected her to anyway. There was something completely nice about her…but a strange feeling that all was not as it seemed. The preparations took an hour, but saying good-bye to the tiny island took three.

Wynn folded her arms and leaned against the cabin, "You have to leave sometime or another, you know."

Link glared, and hung his head in defeat. Tetra dolefully kicked at the ground, still wearing the outfit from _Resergam_. She rested her hand on top of the hilt of the dagger Wynn had given her, biting her lip.

The trio walked to the beach sullenly, and quietly. Crickets played their music as a steady wind blew, miraculously, in a way that it would make it a simple ride. They would have had to row otherwise, and Tetra grinned for this turn of fate.

Link set the picnic baskets in the boats in such a way that it wouldn't take up leg space, and tied them down. He moved out of the way for Tetra to get in first.

She did, and surprisingly, the boat was bigger than what she remembered. There were enough room for three grown men in here! She fell back and hit her head when Link pushed. He stopped abruptly, apologized. But she didn't care. She just stared back at shore and waved slightly to Wynn as Link hopped in, to the front. He hoisted the sail up and she fell backward again when they sailed away.

__________________________

Ah, to be on the waves with the wind lightly touching your face! Pure bliss, both of them had forgotten it on the Isle of the Wolf, and now that they felt it again, neither of them could speak. The mist of the sea splattered against Tetra's cheeks. Windswept and in a world truly her own where no one could touch her, joy welled up where sorrow had been. She wished that she could just fling herself in the ocean and swim, but if she did, at the speed the boat was going, she would be left behind.

It was night, and the moon showed through purple clouds. It was all she could stare at. She stayed awake for longer than she thought to, or wanted to. When the morning sun cracked over the horizon, the young woman fell asleep.

____________________________

You did it. Now you were in deep. The muck enclosed over your head and you felt the air wriggle itself out of you. Perfect, now what were you going to do? Die of suffocation? You struggle, struggle, and feel yourself weakening, strength dripping out of your arms. You sink, the pressure increasing, you think your head would burst!

Surfacing, you gag and choke, stumbling, and falling over. You grow sick of all the darkness, and want to shout, "Where am I!"

You're trembling; you want to stand up, to go on. Who was that woman? The person with emerald hair, you look up.

There she is! The same puzzled look as before, staring forward. You crawl toward her, and look the same direction. You're not surprised, although something inside you is screaming, "No! This isn't right!"

It's you.

**Author's Notes:** _Yay…a longer chapter. Would've been twice as long…but I got Final Fantasy X-2 and devoted much of my time to that. (Grins) I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Until next time…_

_"When playing Risk…don't take advice from your dad."_

_                -A word from the wise from Pennywise_


	6. Resurrection

Disclaimer: Zelda and all of its' characters belong to Nintendo.

****

Part 5

/RESURRECTION\

(Danger is looming. The people of the village feel it in their bones. It is silent…when a lone child's scream pervades the silence, it is hastily shushed. They are worried, grim… Like frightened animals, they are clueless as to what will happen next. They watch their steps.)

(In one of the more hidden huts, a boy sits next to a young woman on the floor. His worried gaze is set on the anonymous person's face, which is readily pale and quiet. She has the appearance of someone who has not long to live, but somehow clinging to life with an unknown connection. The boy wishes to touch her, to warm her up so she does not look so deathly purple. But something…holds him back. Because he suspects…)

Boy: Say something…

Girl: …

…

…

…

(The silence is maddening.)

Boy: Anything…

Girl: …

…

…

…

…

…

Boy: Why won't you wake up?

(There is no response.)

Boy: Why do you…smell…

…

…

…like…_Them_?

Girl:…

(He rests backwards. The young woman makes not a sound. The boy sighs as he slowly gives into the despair that this individual will never wake up. This unknown that washed up on the beach.)

(Thunder crackles outside. The boy jumps. Shuddering (half in fear and half in cold), he pulls a blanket off a chair and tosses it onto the person.)

Boy: (thinking) if I can't touch you…this is the best I can do…

Boy: I'm sorry…

_________

Tetra: …

(She floats in the dream she has had so many times before. It is the endless land of muck. But, not as before, she is not sinking in the mud.)

Tetra: …

(She is, again, in front of the barrier she cannot see.)

Tetra: (weakly)…why…

(Silence answers her forlorn and empty interrogation. She does not expect a straight answer.)

Tetra: …

…

…

…

…I…

…hate this place…

__________

(The boy has finally fallen into a light slumber. Unfortunately, for him, he is not awake to witness the person on the floor briefly open her eyes, gaze solidly into nothing, and then close again.)

__________

(She is on the _Tidal,_ watching through another's eyes as the events of two years replay themselves. She watches, a passive observer, unable to do anything. The storm is worse than she had chosen to remember. The crew is being chucked around like ragdolls from the erratic work of the foamy waves. She watches Link, bone-weary, struggle in trying to control the rigging. She sees herself, running to him, seeing his hopeless struggle. He would only succeed in breaking is arms cleanly in half.)

Tetra: …Oh god…ohgodohgodohgod…

(Mako…)

Tetra: MAKO! MAKOO! MAAAKKOOO!

(He sees Tetra and Link in their fruitless labors, and dashes, hoping to aid them. He does not see a wave come ride over the edge of the ship just as he turns around, running towards him, rapidly gaining acceleration.)

Tetra: MAKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

(He is struck largely in the back. She can hear the ribs snapping. The event that has haunted her seems to slow down, she can see the shock apparent on his face, the agony, the anguish. She can only scream as she watches him hurtle through the air, and, into the dark depths of the waters.)

(Her hysteria is overbearing, and she keels over. Wave after wave of guilt smash into her gut.)

Voice: Murderer.

Tetra:…(only her sobs can be heard.)

Voice: He put his entire faith in you. They all did. Once Mako died, they lost it. They no longer respected you as a captain.

Tetra: …

Voice: Abomination.

Voice: Murderer.

Voice: Murderer.

Voice: Murderer.

Voice: Murderer.

(Tetra's form is not on the ship anymore. She is back in the land of muck, and she is watching the body of the, "dead" woman suspended in midair by straps. Her long, green hair seems almost too pretty for the paleness of the body, the sickly, ghastliness of her face.)

Tetra: …?

(She thinks she sees a rigid movement shock through the naked body.)

Voice: She is not dead.

(Tetra sees another shudder through the seemingly inanimate body. She does not know why, but dread fills her very being, seeing so wretched a creature still living.)

Voice: She is not dead.

Tetra: I know…

Voice: She is not dead.

Tetra: I know!

(The woman suspended by vines is now stirring. And, with some animalistic desire, Tetra wants to hide. Something about this person, something…inhumane about it. Yet she cannot move, she cannot feel her legs.)

Voice: Why do you run? 

Voice: Why do you hide?

Voice: Why…?

Tetra: Oh, shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!

Voice: Denial…

Tetra: JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!

Voice: No.

(Tetra rasps out a wheeze, and begins crying again. For Mako. For the lost faith of those that once respected her.)

(The voice stays silent in amusement. Unseen eyes probe the sobbing girl.)

(And, all the while, the unconscious woman stirs.)

__

(Tetra is, once again at the bow of the ship. The rest of the crew is underneath having their sparse dinner. Although not having eaten in a few days, she is not hungry. The guilt of the situation is simply too much to allow any other necessities to make themselves known. It has been three months since Mako's death, and she can't move on.)

(The responsibility she once had is thrown to the dirt, and not anyone has spoken to her for weeks. She has simply avoided Link altogether since that night…the rest of the crew…just doesn't talk to her.)

(In her mind, she is slightly surprised…

…that they are still with her…

…for she has neglected her duties as a leader, mixing her 

personal problems with her business. Although having lost

one member, she dwells on it, unable to be happy that the 

others are still alive.)

Tetra: (thinking) Mother…you'd be ashamed of me…

(Footsteps. She believes she hears them, but does not bother to look.)

Tetra: (thinking) I wonder…what his last thought was… Was it…betrayal?

(Betrayal…)

Tetra: (thinking) It's…my fault…

(The cautious person that crept up to her no sits next to her and puts a plate into her hands.)

(The smell of chicken wafts up to her nose. Her stomach, fed up with being patient with her, screams, begs to be filled. She suddenly feels dizzy, slouching, she clutches herself.)

Link: A…Are you okay…?

Tetra: …

Link: …Tetra?

Tetra: …Yes…

Tetra: (thinking) NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

Link: I thought you might be hungry…

(She started to lose her balance before he steadied her on the railing, pulling his hand away quickly.)

Link: You…haven't eaten in awhile.

Tetra: …

Link: I snuck some chicken up! It might be a little salty.

Tetra: …

Link: (starts to get nervous) Oh, ah…do you…want me to leave you alone?

Tetra: …

Tetra: (thinking) No. I am-

Tetra: (thinking) I'm not some snotty, conceited, little bitch. It's my fault Mako's dead, so I won't allow myself the luxury of someone to help ease the pain! God knows I deserve far, far worse!

(Tetra, however, did not say anything.)

Link: …Silence will get you nowhere.

(Tetra suddenly looks at him with the old fire in her eyes. A smart-ass remark like that a few months before the Incident would have cost him. The fire is doused before it can completely grip her.)

Tetra: …Thanks for the food…

Link: It's no problem. But, will you eat it? You need to eat. You're…you're…_pale_…Tetra. It's starting to worr-

Tetra: (interrupting) I'll eat it, don't worry. I just haven't been hungry lately.

(Link stares at her for a period of time, as if contemplating a lie obscured under a flimsy covering.)

Link: You're not…

Tetra: I'll eat it.

Link: …starving yourself…

(Her eyes widen significantly.)

Link: …to…torture yourself…are you?

Tetra: …

Link: Tetra…

Tetra: …

Link: I…

(Her hands tighten on the plate. She thinks about crashing it over his head.)

Link: …I don't want to see you suffer. I want you to be happy, Tetra! Seeing you do this is killing me as much as it is you!

Tetra: …

(He puts his hands on her shoulders and forces her to look at him.)

Link: Why are you doing this, Tetra?!

Tetra: …

(She cannot break his piercing gaze…)

Link: Don't you know how worried everyone is?!

Link: Don't you know how they want you to smile again?!

Link: Tetra…!

(His pressure on her arms is painful now.)

Link: They don't talk to you because they know your immediate self-defense in occasions where you don't want help! All they can talk about when you're not looking is how to make you feel better! Are you so clueless to this?! Don't you know?!

Tetra: …

(Link, his jaw dropping as his courage fades as he realizes what he has said. His hands snap away from her arms.)

(She still holds his gaze, and, she notices she has control of the conversation.) 

Tetra: …

Link: …

(Her shoulders are sore.)

Tetra: …

(They sit in silence.)

__________

Tetra: I don't remember that…

Voice: Of course you don't. You have sealed much of your painful memories away in a place far deep in yourself. So much, in fact, that you're fifteenth year of life is very much a blur.

(This does not sink in immediately.)

Tetra: …You mean…I remember…hardly anything?!

Voice: Don't assume as much. It is too early to assume.

Tetra: Too early for what?!

Voice: (and though she cannot see, Tetra is sure the voice smirks) It's too early to tell you that as well.

Tetra: … 

Tetra: I hate you.

Voice: (laughing lightly) So you think. Your opinion may vary. Is it you or I you hate…?

Tetra: Don't mock me.

Voice: I don't believe you're in _any_ position to be barking orders, _Captain_.

(Tetra flinches at the next throw of mockery.)

Voice: Touched a sore spot, did I…?

Tetra: …

Tetra: I want to leave.

Voice: It'll be a trifle difficult to get out of here, milady…

Tetra: And just why is that?! I'm sick of this dream! LET ME OUT!

Voice: And just _how_, you presume, you get out of your own _mind_? I can't help you escape from yourself. Only you are binding yourself here. Oh, and, whoever said this was a _dream_?

Tetra: I'm sleeping, aren't I? 

Voice: Perhaps… But did the thought… _Penitence_ ever cross your mind? 

Tetra: To make up for past deeds? No.

Voice: (and, as before, Tetra senses the voice smiling) …You shall see…

_______________

__

Fire

Fire that burns…

Fire that kills. 

An inferno of emotions can either douse, or spur the killing machine.

Hatred, rage…they go hand in hand. They leave behind only a trail of death and destruction.

Other emotions, some pleasant, some unnerving.

Awareness of another.

Who is there?

Who is the one who disturbs my sanctums?

Who are you?

Who are you?

Who are you?

Who are you?

Who are you?

What is this place, unfamiliar.

An unfamiliar place, unfamiliar faces.

Where is the womb from whence I came? 

Where is the comfort? 

Here there is only cold, loneliness.

Why is it cold?

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why?

THE PAIN! OH GOD! PAIN!

PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN! PAIN!

____________

Tetra: …!

(She suddenly lets out a cry and grasps her head. The word pain ingrains itself into her skull in fiery red letters.)

Tetra: THESE AREN'T MY MEMORIES!

(She screams horribly. Her head feels like a sponge being squeezed by a child.)

Tetra: Hrrrgghh! S…

(She grasps her head harder as the screaming barbaric language she has heard before once again enters her mind.)

Tetra: …! Unngghh!

(And, through the incessant shouts battling in the air, the language suddenly translates in her mind, registering. It glows in orange.)

****

RESURRECTION.

SHE WILL SOON AWAKEN.

Tetra: …STOP!

****

SHE WILL SOON AWAKEN.

Tetra: I DON'T CARE! 

****

BEWARE. SHE IS NOT WHO SHE USED TO BE.

(The screaming dialect stops, but it does not echo as it did last time.)

Tetra: _Uhh_…uhnggghh…

(She does, however, feel nauseated.)

(Sweating, she curls up into a fetal position.)

__________

Nurse: It's been five days…

Woman: Already? He hasn't left her side…

Nurse: Awful weather… The girl has a fever as well, and there's nothing we can do. None of us can touch her.

Woman: So, it's true…?

Nurse: (nods slowly).

Woman: My god…

Nurse: (in pity) I won't like to be the girl when she wakes up. She'll have a lot of questions to answer, from washing up to the beach to why her ears are so different.

Woman: Is it safe to assume that…?

Nurse: No. At this point we are in no positions to make any guesses to the girls' origin. I don't have the authority to even give you my opinion. But…with her condition, if she doesn't wake up soon…

Woman: …?

Nurse: I don't know… It's something about the environment. It's not making her better to be in a healthy habitat. Quite the contrary, it seems to be killing her.

Woman: …! And there's nothing you can do?!

Nurse: …

Woman: My boy hasn't left her side for five days!

Nurse: He could leave any time he wanted.

Woman: Well he hasn't, and now he's gone and got himself attached to her! Attached to someone…_who's been in contact with Them!_

Nurse: It might have been an accident.

Woman: An accident that hasn't happened for a hundred years at least!

Nurse: I'm going to have to ask you to behave yourself. There _are_ other patients in this place.

Woman: (glares)

Nurse: None of this is my fault, friend. Just have patience…

Woman: You know that was never my virtue.

Nurse: …

Woman: When you have information you're authorized to tell, tell me?

Nurse: Alright.

______

(The boy, around age seventeen, still sits by the girl. There are shadows under his hazel eyes from worry.)

(The young woman has not moved, and suffers from malnutrition. Her skin, which was pale before, has now grown to a rotten yellow and is beginning to shape around the bones. Despite this, the boy can still see her beauty and thinks she must have been gorgeous when healthy.)

(He knows about her fitful dreams. During the long hours of examining her, he notices that at times she is crying lightly, others heavy, and sometimes angry. He wondered if she was ever happy. He hates seeing her suffer like this, he hates seeing anyone suffer.)

(Over the past five days he has slowly been edging closer to her. Only a few inches a day, to move any closer, the scent of Them overpowers and he loses himself to the darkness, completely sapped of hope.)

Boy: (thinking) I wonder what she's dreaming about…

(And he moves a little closer. He is led by a belief, though stupid, that once he can reach her, she will wake up.)

______

Voice: You still don't understand?

Tetra: No.

(They are in front of the unconscious woman again. Tetra finds she cannot look away once again.)

Voice: Primitive are the minds of men. Do you know nothing of what happened a thousand years ago?

Tetra: Of course. Hyrule flooded-

Voice: Ah, but do you know _how_ it flooded?

Tetra: The gods willed it to be.

Voice: To those who want the unexplained explained, yes. To you, and to others who seek the truth behind the matter-

Tetra: Who said I _wanted_ to know the truth?! 

Voice: (chuckling) You don't _have_ to. But, milady, you have a _duty_ to know as well.

Tetra: …!

Voice: You are Princess Zelda, the last in the bloodline, correct?

Tetra: …

Voice: Ah, don't tell me. You hate that side of yourself, don't you? Care to tell me why, or shall I second guess you?

Tetra: …It…

Voice: Hm?

Tetra: …It links me to something that is lost, and will never be found. It's just too sad…

(The woman stirs again, and Tetra shivers.)

Tetra: I hate Zelda.

Voice: And so, in turn, you hate yourself.

Tetra: Just that side. There's so many secrets to that side of me…

Voice: So you hate the undefined? And so, you hate Hyrule.

Tetra: …You read…too far into statements…

Voice: Really? I believe I'm just reading over the cover. 

Tetra: …

Voice: You love the sea, do you not? Is the sea not indefinable? Something beyond our comprehension?

Tetra: But the sea is like the mother's womb. It's somewhere we all begin and will eventually end.

(Tetra's eyes are glazed over, and her voice has become flat.)

Voice: So you learn…

Tetra: (melancholy) So I learn…

(Her gaze is towards the woman once again.)

Tetra: …So I learn…

_______

__

(A familiar scent of one lost long ago. A side torn away at a young age.

Young Tetra floats in the sea, a warm sea, breathing life into her limbs. She is curled in a ball, her eyes shut in a peaceful reverie. The warm waters rock her gently. It is apparent that she isn't breathing, yet, nor does it seem that she needs to breathe. Hands clasped at her knee, her tiny feet are overlapped in the semblance of a heart.

A small smile is lapped onto her lips, not one of joy, nor one of sadness. The smile was simply a smile, nothing more.

Yet, there is something odd about this child, aside the fact that she needs not breathe. She is too simple, too simple a being to be a being at all. That isn't to say that humans are complete. She…seems somewhat incomplete of the incomplete.

And, from everywhere and seemingly nowhere, a song echoes. A sad song, a song of hope. Arms of light encircle the child, cover her, kiss her. It illuminates her, and suddenly, the incomplete of the incomplete, is complete of the incomplete.

And, slowly, slowly, the child's eyes open. And she takes her first breath.)

_______

Tetra: …!

Tetra: Enough…!

(Her eyes are wide.)

Tetra: I don't…I don't want to know this!

(The woman is stirring.)

Tetra: (falling to the ground again) I'm not ready! I'm _not ready_!

Voice: Yet, you will never be ready, will you?

Tetra: I don't want to know this! I don't need to know this!

(A shivering wreck, she cannot tear her eyes away from the woman.)

(Tetra's mouth hangs open and she feels sick once again.)

Voice: …

(And the presence disappears, and Tetra has never felt so frightfully alone before.)

__

thump-thump

Tetra: …!

__

thump-thump

(The blood drains from her face, for she knows what to come. Her heart bangs a drum, louder and louder. Louder, louder _LOUD_er, LOUDER, _LOUDER_!)

(Her hands clam up, freeze.)

__

thump-THUMP

Tetra: …!

(The woman…breathes…her mouth twitches. Her wretched figure moves with a sickly barbaric look. )

__

THUMP-THUMP

Tetra: N-

(And the eyes…OPEN.)

(THE RED EYES.)

(And they look at her.)

Tetra: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

_______

(With a scream that rips through the tense silence of the village. One that seems to cling onto something, something that no one can see. A scream that leads the girl to life itself…

…Tetra awakens.)


	7. Trials

Disclaimer: Zelda and all of its' characters belong to Nintendo. 

****

\THE TRIALS OF THE WOLF/

Tetra: …!

Tetra: H.._Unnnnrrrggghhh…._

(Her body doubles over from disuse, her breaths come short. Too short. She finds herself hard of breath. Too weak to move her arms, she can only lay there, hunched over like a hunchback.)

(She has never felt so weak.)

Tetra: H…hhhh…

(She can't finish her statement as it trails into mumbles of incoherent speech.)

Tetra: (thinking) Just…Just concentrate on breathing…Breathe…

(She slowly stops shuddering, though she still feels as if a tree has fallen on her. Her muscles, quite content with her lying down doing nothing, protest angrily as she twitches her fingers.)

Tetra: …Oww…

(She closes her eyes.)

(And hastily opens them.)

Tetra: (thinking) Stay…awake…

(Her gaze falls upon her wrist, and it takes a moment to register that it is bent in an awkward direction.)

(And she looks away.)

Tetra: …

(She twitches the fingers of her other hand, and it does not hurt so much. It is a weak movement.)

Tetra: (thinking) I suppose…that's better than nothing…

(She practices flexing her fingers until she can entirely clench her fist in a ball. Too concerned, she does not notice the paleness of her skin.)

Tetra: …

(But, she does notice that she is fatiguing rapidly.)

(Her hand tightens, and she can feel her nails clipping into her skin.)

(Her eyebrows knit together, and her mouth stretches into a thin line. Her concentration only serves to defeat the purpose, as it wears her out more quickly than she would have preferred.)

Tetra: …

(She tightens her fist…)

(And it is then that she realizes…)

Tetra: !!! 

(…that hazel eyes are staring into her own…)

THE RED EYES.

(And a scream once again pierces the night.)

______

(The village is a mess. The townspeople are unsure of what to do next. The most respected are questioned by the panicking, and the least respected are being paid to go witness the spectacle of a girl that awoke the night previous.)

______

Tetra: …

(She is sitting, unresponsive, in a small chair. Five heavy blankets have been wrapped around her, and still she shivers. The cold is teeth jarring, and she could not see how the people could walk around in nothing but pants (and for the women, a top-shirt as well). She has been fed a small nibbling of bread, but she could eat no more. She drank but a few drops of water.)

(She sits in the corner of the room in which she awoke, in the shadows, to be inconspicuous to those that wander in here.)

Tetra: …

Tetra: (thinking) What am I doing here…?

(Her stare inevitably lands on the boy across the room, still watching her.)

Tetra: (thinking) Why does he stare at me…?

(Her good hand tightens on the blankets.)

Tetra: (thinking) …I want to take a bath…

(The thoughts almost brought a smile to her face, that is, until her eyes connect with the boy again.)

Tetra: …

(She averts her eyes again, but he does not. He stares her down, as he has done the entire morning.)

Tetra: (thinking) Am I _that_ interesting a spectacle to look at?

(She rests her chin onto her knees and relaxes her tense body into the soft chair.)

Tetra: (thinking) It smells in here…

(She closes her eyes.)

Tetra: (thinking) --Like…_death_…

(And opens them again.)

Tetra: (thinking) Am I that death?

(She passes a fleeting glance to the boy, and his attention perks up just slightly. His hazel brown eyes are mellow, mirroring a kind soul. A tan color of hair falls neatly on his head, framing the narrow jaw line. Freckles dot his cheeks.)

Tetra: …

Tetra: (thinking) …I wonder if I should say hi…it's obvious he's not going to be on his way anytime soon…

Tetra: …

(There is, however, no utterance on her breath.)

Tetra: …

(As she opens her mouth, he speaks first.)

Boy: D'onpair.

Tetra: …P-Pardon?

Boy: D'onpair! E m'irea NichLa!

Tetra: I…

(His face seems to fall as the realization that she cannot understand makes itself clear.)

Boy: …Ufr'plersa nedraphe?

Tetra: …

Boy: K'irenm…Deghaurt!

Tetra: I don't understand…

(His face falls even lower.)

(And then he points to himself…)

Boy: Nichuva.

Tetra: …?

(He realizes her obvious confusion, and, repeats his gesture until she comprehends.)

Tetra: …N…N (she stumbles over the awkward pronunciations)…Nic-i-vah?

Nichuva: Nic-vah!

Tetra: Nichuva?

(He nods happily.)

Tetra: Your name's Nichuva?

(His smile now is strained, but he nods again.)

Tetra: …

(His attention hangs eagerly onto her.)

Nichuva: …d'inharha? Ickvathnag?

Tetra: Tetra…

Nichuva: Juyo?

(Tetra frowns, unable to use her hands.)

Tetra: I am Tetra.

Nichuva: (he has difficulties with producing the desired hard "T" sound, as it is not in his language) H-Hehruh?

Tetra: No… T. T-T-T-(she practices the t sound in front of him) Tetra.

Nichuva: Thehthruh?

(Tetra sighs, but does not show her slight annoyance.)

Tetra: Thehthruh.

(Nichuva beams. He chuckles a little bit, and leans back on his hands.)

Nichuva: Thehthruh…k'ioypthun…

Tetra: Uh…

_____

(The next day…)

(The boy, Nichuva, who, albeit seemed strange at first, was a very bright young man. He did large math problems in his head when organizing her food amount, careful not to come too close to her. When he drew a few feet closer than he had the yesterday morning, Tetra could see small stripes tattooed on his cheeks that traveled down to his neck. He had fetched another blanket for her. Finally, it had stopped the shivers, and she felt warm.)

(An elder woman had dropped by but an hour ago and took Nichuva away without a warning, shushing him before he could even begin to protest. A few quick words had convinced him, and he left with a bowed head…)

(…and now she was alone…)

(…and yet she wasn't alone…)

(She could feel eyes, eyes watching. She could never find them. She buried her head into the blankets, weary. She had not moved much.)

Tetra: …

(Judging by the shadows, it was approaching high noon now.)

Tetra: (thinking) I wonder where Link is…

(In imagining this thought, she suddenly begins to probe her memory for what had happened for her to eventually end up in this situation.)

Tetra: (thinking) …he better not have kicked the bucket…

Tetra: Uhh…

(She tentatively touches her brow.)

Tetra: (thinking) I've been thinking too much… I wonder if I can move yet…

(To experiment, she flexes her good hands' fingers slowly and then the arm.)

Tetra: (wincing)…

Tetra: (thinking) I…guess not…

(She lets her hand rest once again.)

Tetra: (thinking)

(As, it is the only thing she can do.)

_______

Nichuva: …

Woman: …

(The two of them are walking in a straight line through familiar wood. The woman has an expression of anger and frustration, while the boy in his late teens stares glumly at the ground, having memorized this tread completely.)

Nichuva: Listen…

Woman: The conversation has ended, Nichuva. _Period_.

Nichuva: But-!

Woman: I'm not going to argue with you, Nichuva.

Nichuva: But, she-!

Woman: _It_.

Nichuva: Mother!

Mother: I _am not_ allowing my son around…around _Them_.

Nichuva: But…

Mother: We're _done_, Nichuva. 

Nichuva: SHE'S NOT ONE OF THEM!

(His outburst shocks him more than her. He quivers, eyes wide, hands clenched.)

Mother: (without looking at him) I only have your best interest at heart, Nichuva.

Nichuva: My Coming of Age is next d'rygha!*

Mother: Correct. Then, if it is still here by next d'rygha, you can do what you will. I won't have a say in it. But, as you are still in _my_ custody, and you _still_ a ryr'ghand*, my word is the one we'll be listening to.

Nichuva: …

Mother: Are we settled then, or is there anything else we can dispute about?

Nichuva: …I…I can't believe you're so cold…

Mother: …

Nichuva: You don't even KNOW her! I've been around her for a WEEK and a HALF!

Mother: I am not arguing with you anymore, Nichuva. You may turn around if you want.

(Fuming, he keeps his rage under a mask of subtlety. He turns around and tromps off noisily. Only custom of his people keeps him from uttering curses under his breath.)

Nichuva: (teeming) _She's not one of them_…

_______

(Around the hut, children are huddled away from, making up rumors. The adults are too concerned to hush them and their silly hobbies. All eyes that day were turned to the hut.)

(…Inside, Tetra has finally found the power in herself to crawl around. She forced herself to eat her piece of bread, and drink a gulp of milk. The after effects were that if she sat down she got dizzy. So, muscles fragile, she slowly makes laps around the rooms. Working it out, she thinks that stretching herself out will help her move faster quicker.)

(She is reluctant to try this, however…)

(Tetra has bandaged her wrist in a way she knew how. After crying while straightening the bone out again, she splinted it with the thin blanket she had been using while unconscious. She was very cautious not to jar it against anything.)

(Her broken wrist shuddered uncannily. It sent a shock of pain up her arm, and she collapsed to the ground, clutching it in a way she could.)

Tetra: (wincing) …

(She finds it in herself to roll back to where she was before she started moving, regardless of how dizzy it made her feel.)

(With her good hand, she pulled the blankets over her head and curled up. Warming up and grasping her hand, she closed her eyes weakly. With a kind of dread she dares not let take her, she tries to sleep, as it is the only physical thing it seems she is capable of.)

________

__

(Nearly two weeks ago…)

(The sea was peaceful, and the two figures in the prone form of the Red Lion were content. Having been a day at sea, the two kept their peace. Tetra stared dazedly out, chin crooked into her palm, her tongue pressing against the back of her teeth.)

Tetra: Hmm…

Link: Eh?

(He looks her direction, attention diverting from his small meal.)

(Tetra, however, does not notice…)

Link: (thinking) She's been so quiet…

(Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, he looked back to his sandwich. Despite four years at sea, he had never seen anything so interesting as a sandwich. It was…weird, and yet unique. He took a bite.)

Link: Hrpm…

Tetra: …

(He glances her way again, only to again see the back of her head.)

(Swallowing his bite, he proceeds to speak to her.)

Link: …Hey…

Tetra: Hm?

(She looks at his steadily, her eye cut halfway to give her a kind of sleepy look. Her jaw now lies obscured thanks to her hand.)

Tetra: What?

Link: Oh…

(He just looks at her, and his question is blocked up in his throat.)

Link: …Er…nothing…

Tetra: (turning away) Alright.

____

__

(The day after aforementioned)

(The sky is now begin to cloud up, and Link prepares for the worst. But, true to Wynn's word, he had not touched the sail. Her last words to him were to leave it up, despite how bad the weather may get. Instead, he takes the food and, carefully, put the parcels in a small compartment he used to use with his accessory of weapons. Hands lining around the base of the hull, he feels for the familiar bumps in the general area of it.)

(This takes longer than he had originally anticipated, however. Though the moss that had grown on it the pass two years had been washed away (as much as possible) by Wynn, age left different indentations and fooled him into tugging planks that would not move.)

(He has asked Tetra to move several times now, and, getting slightly annoyed, she begins to help him to speed things up.)

(They find the compartment in due time, and slip the food in.)

Tetra: You sure it won't get wet?

Link: Well, I can't be positive. But they're better chances of keeping it dry in there than out here, where it's going to rain.

(He flashes a quiet grin.)

Tetra: Well…okay. If you say so.

(She resumes her staring out to sea.)

Tetra: …(quietly) It doesn't look like it's going to rain though…

Link: Huh?

(Tetra blinks.)

Tetra: No, nothing.

Tetra: (thinking) …I want to stretch my legs.

(In response to her thoughts, she straightens her legs and relaxes her back against the back of the boat. Her knee seems to ache the most, seeming to ask, to beg to bend her legs again. She closed her eyes and thinks of other things.)

(Link stares at the clouds in the distance. Squinting, he is rewarded by a small flash of light to answer his questions.)

Link: Well, isn't this great.

Tetra: (following his gaze) Oh.

Link: I think our luck has met its' end.

Tetra: (quietly) Indeed…

_______

(Footsteps, again.)

Tetra: (opening her eyes blearily) Huh…?

(Nichuva stands at the entrance of the hut, arms folded, carrying some food. She stares at this, a little oblivious to his act of kindness. Cautiously, her eyes are still closed enough for him to think she is sleeping, he walks closer to her. He masks the twisting of his insides from the revulsion or Their smell, and sets the parcels close by, apparently not able to get completely close to her.)

Nichuva: (quietly) Thehthruh? O-Ohytf'yreptha? 

(Tetra maintains her silence, a little curious as to what he will do.)

Nichuva: (quieter still) …E k'unmreph sahaqui…

(Tetra stirs slightly, and draws his full attention. She shams sleeping once again.)

Nichuva: Thehthruh!

(Now there seems to be a desperate tone in his voice, her eyes open wider and she looks at him silently, slightly worried.)

Tetra: …What?

(This is enough indication for him to continue. He tries his best to flow his hands along to make her understand in the slightest.)

Nichuva: Iu j'ickratr! (He motions to the food) Suregh! (And points to the door) K'erghthryu nimthareh, l'yrthed. (And pointed to her, finally to himself) Nyr! Nyr! Nyr!

(Tetra's still tired mind tries to comprehend, and, slowly, points to her and then to the food.)

Tetra: …You…want me to eat the food…?

Nichuva: Murhn.

(Nodding, she reaches forward, and grasps the meal not unlike bread and butter. Sitting up, she nibbles on it.)

Nichuva: (shakily, he looks around, suspicious) …Nyr, iu!

Tetra: Huh?

(Nichuva, sighing, points to her, and, mimics her eating. Instead of nibbling, however, he is hastily shoving the imaginary food down his throat.)

Nichuva: Nyr! K'antily haghra!

Tetra: Oh…

(She tries to take bigger bites, but, a wave of nausea crashes into her abdomen. The sheer force sends her mind reeling, and she drops the bread.)

Tetra: (groaning)

(Nichuva is getting more and more distressed by the moment by Tetra's appearance. Thinking fast, he pulled the blankets from the corner of the room and threw them over her, saying something like an apology before covering her head. Wrapping the blankets thickly around her, he hefts her up, and, glancing around one last time before hurrying out of the hut.)

_____

Tetra: (thinking) What the?!

(Her breath is hot against her, the heavy furs warming her up quickly. Her body bobs up and down with each stride of Nichuva.)

(She wrinkles her nose.)

Tetra: (thinking) Wh-WHAT'S THAT SMELL?!

(It brings tears to her eyes, and sweat dribbles down her face. She abruptly holds her breath.)

Tetra: (thinking) _It's ME! I'M THAT DEATH! _

(She starts crying freely now, unable to control herself. She buries her face into her good hand, clear snot spraying all over them. This horrid realization attacks her mind.)

Tetra: (moaning in despair)

(Because in her mind, she perceives the fog she saw what seemed so long ago.)

______

(Nichuva hears a wretched moan from Thehthruh. His face etching more and more in apology, he gently straightens her in his arms. He hurriedly rushes to a building made of stone on the opposite side of town. He takes the shortest route in which he can avoid being seen. Just why he doesn't want to make himself a spectacle of the village square, it remains uncertain.)

(Nearing the building, his steps slow down. The soft dirt beneath his feet becomes grass when he crosses the line of the gate. Finally, in front of the threshold, he sets the shuddering foreign girl down, removing the blanket from her head. What he sees surprises him so much that he literally takes some steps backwards.)

Nichuva: (a little frightened) Thehthruh? Are you okay?

(She begins to mumble things incoherently in her language, saddening the boy, for he cannot understand a word she is saying.)

(Her language seems to be surrounded with "hard" sounds, producing the ever-elusive "T", "P", and "K" sounds. Compared to his own language, hers did not seem to create pictures in the mind, or roll off her tongue as easy as his did. To put it in different terms, her speech sounded like rocks being ground against each other, whereas his was slightly more depressing, like raindrops hitting the ground in an incomprehensible beat.)

Nichuva: Thehthruh…!

(She only shivers and pulls the blankets tighter around herself.)

Thehthruh: Tolkirera… Ny kinpart WEHNGURT! Nichuva, Ny'k wehngurt!

Nichuva: I can't understand you!

(She silences periodically, her already pale face turning a deathly purple.)

Nichuva: (thinking) Oh Nahro, she _dying_. She needs help…

(Hopelessly he looks into the vacant building, remembering why he brought her there in the first place. Stepping forward, he looks at his destination.)

Nichuva: …(quietly) Thehthruh, I'm going to…I'm going to help you. Though you smell like Them, I won't let the people of this village forsake you so easily, my conscience won't stand other wise. I know you can't understand me, but as long as you know that I am content in helping you live, is it enough? Thehthruh, you have to trust me.

(He stares into her eyes. Seeing if there is any comprehension on her part. When he sees her green eye pierce into his own, he is satisfied with what is there.)

________

(Tetra notes the contempt in the boys' voice, and it brings her back to rational thought. Despite the different speech, she can partially understand the will in him. She nods, something deep in her mind suspects of what he wants to do.)

(He grins in approval, and offers his hand. She looks at it for a few minutes, gathering her strength. Slowly, weakly, she outstretches her good hand. This takes an immense effort, more than she ever thought possible.)

(His callused palm grasps her own, and, with a small heave, she is shot upward quickly. Her mouth parts in a small gasp of shock as the cold hits her skin.)

Tetra: (thinking) …It's…it's so cold… 

(They gradually step up the ancient stairs, Tetra struggling to keep her balance and control her shivers to a minimum. More than once she glanced wantonly at the pile of blankets at the bottom of the steps.)

(But, it is a futile effort to try and convince him to get the blankets to warm her up. They are ever walking forward, a small pond with water flowing into it comes into view.)

(The pond is clear. So clear, in fact, that she could see the bottom of it, not four feet down. Despite the rushing water into it…the ponds' surface did not seem to ripple, or move at all…)

Tetra: _Resergam_?!

(This sudden outburst shakes her, and Nichuva's eyes dart to hers.)

Nichuva: J'ihryth thyr?

Tetra: …

(They arrive at the water's edge, and he releases Tetra's hand. Collapsing, she can only watch as the boy walks around the pond, thumbing his chin. To the opposite side he goes, and brushes his hand over a stone. An old stone, covered in moss.)

(Much green falls off as he brushes it away, and Tetra sees him squint his eyes. Frowning, his eyes flipped over whatever he was concentrating on, and fell onto the pond again.)

Nichuva: …(quietly) J'ihryth hiugh…niryephe?

(Walking back to her, he motions to the pond, to her, to the pond.)

Nichuva: Iu ophry'gharnh.

(To her…

…to the pond again.

To her…

…and so forth.)

(And a veil that obscured her understanding lifts and it becomes clear.)

Tetra: You want me to go in there?!

(In disbelief, she points angrily at the still water.)

Tetra: …In _this_ weather?!

(Nichuva takes a moment in answering, perhaps to make sure his response would be correct.)

Nichuva: Murhn. 

(And in this simple statement, one that most definitely meant 'yes', Tetra felt her anger and confusion ebb away, like the tide carrying away the sand.)

______

(As soon as her toes touched the waters, she knew she was insane for agreeing to this. Nevertheless, she forced herself through gritting teeth all the way in. Her limbs numbing to the bone cold water, she felt like she had just stepped into an ice-cube rather than water. More or less, it seems at the moment that an ice-cube would be _warmer_ compared to this.)

Tetra: (under her breath) I can't believe this…

(Completely incapable of moving, she kept her head safely above the water. She stares dully at Nichuva, who just stands there with his arms folded.)

Tetra: …

Tetra: …Now what…

(She doesn't expect an answer, and, when he does reply by pulling a book from the shelf near him, finding a page and reading aloud. In her language, it is obvious he doesn't know what he is reading. A strange accent she'd never heard before listlessly flows into her eardrums.)

__

"Hee gauds the stheps of his faithfulh

Buth the wiched peuish in daukness-

Fou noth by sthuenth shall manh preevayl…"*

(Tetra listens attentively, his attempt at her speech would have made her laugh if, of course, the nature of the words were not so serious. His accent had a kind of lisp, and, like in her name, he could not make any hard sounds.)

(The waters' surface churns ever so much, Tetra thinks it a trick of the eye, when it moves again.)

(A murky eye in the water, the liquid glows a bright white, encircling her, massaging warmth once again into her numb muscles, gentle to her wrist.)

(Tetra does not so much as struggle as the water leaps over her head, covering her. Strangely, she does not feel afraid at all.)

(Nichuva watches, wonder in his eyes.)

______

__

(Volume dwindled until it was little more than white noise, if there is such a thing. Resergam was finally awoken, after centuries of slumber.)

(But…

…Resergam was not alone.)

(The purple puff of mist floated deftly in the white noise, curious as to this new presence it felt. It was nothing like previous ones it had sensed. This one was different…)

(The saying "curiosity is what killed the cat" was not a concern to Resergam. It slithered through the air, edging closer to its' target.)

Resergam: **Ah…**

(Resergam comes to a halt.)

Resergam: **So… You have returned.**

_______

(Simultaneously, elsewhere, Tetra was shown things of the universe. Knowledge was presented to her, but it was rapidly forgotten, for this kind of knowledge was not the kind to stick to the mind, rather, it opened her to something out of the box, a passing thought to how small she really was in the bigger concept of things.)

(It was not for many, many years afterward that she would begin to comprehend in even the smallest detail. And that would only be in the shallow minded wakening period before she was fully up.)

(Tetra felt her wrist mend, and herself cleansed of the death that encompassed her.)

Tetra: …

(She could now feel every part of herself, a warm feeling that felt like she had just swallowed a warm drink when cold. She closed her eyes, momentarily halting the imaging spurning forth in her mind.)

(And before she knew it, the feeling was over. The understanding, the feeling, the everything. She was thrust into shock as the water turned suddenly cold again, but she gathered herself. She could see. She could _move_.)

Tetra: (her eyes flashing in happiness) _I'm alive_!

(She crawled out on her own, much to the joy of Nichuva, who had a wide grin plastered onto his features. He has gathered the furs in her absence, which she readily accepts.)

Tetra: Thank you, Nichuva.

(He recognizes the gratitude in her voice, and, a little flustered scratch of his head.)

Nichuva: Unghry thipr…Thehthruh.

(Tetra nods unconsciously, wrapping the blankets around her. He slowly led her to the pedestal in which he had examined prior to her cleansing. Brushing away more moss, he presents it to her.)

(Tetra looks at it, and, much to her surprise, it is in the same lettering as her language.)

Tetra: (thinking) …I can't read it…this is Hylian…

(This she knows, for the message inscribed is the same as a picture her mother showed her long ago…)

Nichuva: (a little hopeful) Thehthruh, nio'phg ninrh?

(Tetra faces him in entirety, reluctant to destroy his belief. Stalling, she eventually shakes her head.)

Tetra: No…

_______

__

(Nearly ten days ago…)

(The weather has worsened, and both of the travelers take a thin blanket and stretch it of them. This does little to stop the biting cold, and the torrential rains that seemed to slam into them overnight. Waves batter the old boat, like mighty fists throwing it around.)

(The food is gone, completely ruined as a wave soaked it all in one smack. The two haven't eaten in two days at least, and, weak, lay prone in the small hull, unable to partake in anything.)

(Link lies unconscious, having hit his head in one of the waves tossing bouts.)

(Tetra borders on the edge of losing herself to the darkness, and her mind grapples onto fear. Having been at sea her entire life, she knows what results from storms like this.)

Tetra: (her eyes shut tight) …What…now…

We probably won't make the night…

(thinking) So far, so far for nothing. 

(opening her eyes a little) I see now…the mistakes I've made…

(Inside herself, a voice screams to her, nagging her to not think this way.)

Tetra: (thinking) There is nothing I'd prefer more…

…than a cup of coffee from Windfall*…

(So thinking, she smiles and lets go.)

_______

(Present).

(Nichuva led her back to a different hut, which was far from the village. Aged, it seemed it had been vacant for several years counting now. He was silent on the tread, for, as Tetra could not decipher that which he had striven to know since a child, it was a crushing disappointment. Although he is aware that he is acting selfish in doing so, he doesn't really try to mask or fix it.)

(Tetra as well has kept herself quiet, and is more than willing to eat when he makes her another piece of bread. She sits at the old stone table, cool to the touch, and eats slowly. Pausing, she looks at him.)

Tetra: Nichuva…er, n-ner?

(He smiles weakly at her attempt.)

Nichuva: …Nyr? (shakes his head)

Tetra: Oh… 

(He looks at the book that he has brought with him, flipping through the pages. By the smell, it is as old as the building they are in, if not older. The pages, yellow and thin, are handled delicately.)

(The bread, which she is nibbling, has an acquired taste. It's nothing like she has eaten before, which is scarcely a surprise. Finishing, she busies herself by looking at her wrist, which no longer aches with the ache she has gotten used to. Removing the wet wrapping, she flexes her fingers.)

Tetra: (thinking) …It's healed…

(She twists her arm and then stretches, satisfied that she can control it once more. Standing up, she walks around the place, learning the geography. In so doing, she finds a bookcase, filled with books in Hylian script.)

Tetra: (thinking) …Outlander sure has a lot of books in a dead language. 

(Her fingertips run along the spines, discovering leather binding. Her eyes trail the unfamiliar lettering. Able to say the sounds, as the alphabet was the same as modern times, the words were meaningless vocals, stretched in accents* foreign to her tongue. Pulling her hand away, she mouthed the words quietly, trying (as she used to as a child) to find their meaning.)

(One title catches her eye, and she delicately pulls it out. Though still in Hylian, two of the words jump at her.)

****

Tudemai Va Rinku Resergam

Tetra: (under her breath) Rinku…Resergam?

Tetra: (thinking) But…my mother…

…said these records were lost…

(The title does not change before her eyes, and she can only be in disbelief. The record of the Hero of Time was in her hands.)

(Nichuva glances to her.)

Nichuva: (quietly) Ruh j'in?

Tetra: Hm?

(She holds the book close to her, closing her eyes and smiling confidently.)

Tetra: The book is interesting.

(The boy grins along with her, assuming she has said she was okay. He goes back to the book he took from the village shrine.)

(Waiting until he is busying himself once more, does she open the book slowly, careful with the decaying pages. She doesn't know why she doesn't want him watching her, but none the less. The cover peels open easily.)

(Her eyes scan the first page swiftly, her fingers trembling with anticipation. A detailed picture of the Master Sword, the Evil's Bane, which Link had left with the dead kingdom of Hyrule, was faded on the parchment. It was a picture she had seen many times before, in the days when her mother was still around. A paragraph of gibberish lies beside it. Though she could not comprehend it, she knew the legend by heart.)

(Turning the page, there were no more pictures. Just words, and Tetra shut the book with a sigh. She had finally found that which she had always wanted to see, but it was useless if she could not even translate it.)

(Putting it back whence it came, she proceeded over to Nichuva, who was shuffling around in a corner.)

Tetra: …What are you doing?

(In response, he stood up and tossed something to her.)

Tetra: Wha-?

(She fumbled with it, the black object bouncing in the air before she finally caught a firm hold on it. She stared at it. Then, holding the leather hilt, she pulled it out of the sheath.)

Tetra: …

(The dagger is clean, made with a knick near the hilt placed there on purpose, it had a thin line of red marble running up its' side. It weighed a couple pounds, slightly heavier than any other dagger she had held before.)

Tetra: (thinking) A Kokiri* Dagger…? This is an old style…

Nichuva: Ruh…a'rymer? J'ouh Kokiri.

(He strapped another dagger to his belt side, and handed her another black sheath. She, mimicking him, put the dagger on her side and took the sword. Pulling it out, she admired it.)

(It was obviously made by the same hand, for the exact line of red marble ran along the middle. Small indentation on the blade included a wolf, a dragon, and an angel, surrounding a wreath of fire. The hilt had a wolf's face etched into it.)

Nichuva: D'unjah! Cheai!

(She looked at him, and he was moving his hands to mime putting the sword around her shoulder.)

Tetra: Oh…

(Slipping it silently back in, she did as she was told. The weight threw her off a little, unused to it. Four years ago she carried a small thief's dagger out of custom, but she had long abandoned it. The sword rattled against her back, and her hip was soon sore from the other weapon.)

Tetra: Why?

(Her simple question, though asked out of the blue, struck a nerve inside herself. She froze where she stood, hands still on the handles. Her eyes locked directly with Nichuva, and the question became clear to him.)

Nichuva: D'on…Uth eh v'ayh…

(He took the book he had set down on the brick nearby, and showed her a picture. It was of a sorceress, cloaked in deep maroon robe. The face was obscured.)

(Nichuva pointed out the window, and uttered something with a most familiar countenance of:

"_That way._")

_______

(Nichuva walked around the village, at his home he gathered all the money and food he could fit in his pockets. He moved with like one guilty of something and trying to run away. Indeed, his thoughts was a large mess at the moment.)

Nichuva: (thinking) This is…madness…

(He walked into his neighbor's place and bought a bag to carry the food.)

Nichuva: (thinking) I don't even…know her…

(He walked to a small shopping villa next, purchasing some first aid necessities, and some special little cubes of vitamins in case they ran out of food. He rushed hurriedly back to the abandoned building in the fields, avoiding as many encounters with people as possible.)

(A voice, however, stops him in his tracks.)

Girl: Nichuva…

(He closes his eyes, blocking back the emotion that threatens to spew forth. He turns around slowly, to meet the same hazel eyes as his own.)

(The girl is his height, her raven hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, bangs hanging over her eyes.)

Nichuva: …Kiroa…

Kiroa: So, you're leaving?

(She's blunt in the statement, shoving her tanned hands into her pockets.)

Nichuva: Yes…

(Kiroa smiles weakly.)

Kiroa: Finally going on that adventure you've always wanted, huh? 

(Nichuva stretches his mouth into a grim look. He sets his hand onto her shoulder, shaking her reassuringly.)

Nichuva: The time is now, sister. You can feel it, as can I. With the reappearance of Them, you know this is necessary.

(Kiroa sniffles, holding back tears with all her might. She hugs her brother, wishing, hoping, that she could come along. Yet she could not, her place was here, her part would come into play later on.)

(The grasshoppers chirped around them in the embrace. Kiroa rests her head on his shoulder.)

(He breaks it sooner than she would have thought. Feeling ripped in half, Kiroa can only wipe away a tear and sigh inwardly in a painful understanding as he turns around yet again and walks away.)

(She looks down at the rock he placed in her hand. Green, smooth to the touch, she clasps it to her heart.)

Kiroa: (thinking) I love you, Nichuva… Be safe.

_______

(Tetra opened her eyes as she heard Nichuva's steps approaching. Sitting up, she looked at him and kept her shock to herself as she sees him in a forlorn state.)

Tetra: …Nichuva…?

(He only forces a smile, and sets the cream colored bag down. Sighing loudly in an unseen agony, he kneels down to the ground.)

(Tetra knows better from personal experience to pay attention to him. Doing so would only cause more damage to the hurt than naught. Instead, she gave him his space and occupied herself with the blades, swinging them through the air. Old techniques were dusted as she did something not unlike a dance of swords. Fighting invisible enemies, she smiled at the nostalgia it caused, tugging at her heartstrings.)

(Doing various acrobatics around the area, she does not feel the least bit silly in doing so in front of someone, rather, she was trained to practice in front of people.)

(Nichuva watched blearily, eyes clouded, his mind struggling to gather itself together. He is entranced by the rhythmic movements of her body through the air, fluent, beautiful. He thought to himself that it must have taken her years to master.)

(Abruptly she stops, skin shiny, sun rays reflecting off her face. Resuming her casual position, she sees Nichuva looking at her.)

Tetra: Huh?

(The comment in itself rings with stupidity. In fact, as soon as the word leaves her, she narrows her eyes.)

Nichuva: …Iu, h'ahry je…ghaphe…

(He stands up and slings the bag quickly over his shoulder. Turning his back to her, he mutters one thing.)

Nichuva: Ja'fherw. 

*d'rygha- equal to a three month period

*ryr'ghand- "young man". Attained at age twelve

*"He guards the steps of His faithful

But the wicked perish in darkness-

For not by strength shall man prevail…"

-Samuel I

*cup of coffee- perfectly aware that making the bar serve coffee is Nintendo's way of kiddifying things. Tetra is a minor, so she still drinks the coffee, per say. J 

*stretched in accents- think of it as Old English versus Modern English, same lettering and such, but many of the sayings they used to say the translation is uncertain. You could also think of it in terms of Old French and Modern French. Same for Hebrew and most likely many other languages.

*Kokiri Dagger- a real weapon, and it has the knick I mentioned

Notes: This chapter went much slower than I anticipated. My apologies on that, but, (well, I can't promise anything) look forward to some action in the next chapter, and maybe some translations to the Outlander's speech. ^_^ The plot is still a little muddled, but I do plan to tie this with another story. An epic of Hyrule's flooding. For those who don't know, Rinku is Link's Japanese name. 


	8. Interlude

Disclaimer: Zelda and all its characters belong to Nintendo.

Date began: 1 December '05

Date finished: 1 December '05

**_Forward_**: _It's been a long time since I've worked on this… I need a small interlude in the story to get me back on track. Heh… this should give you a good idea of some things… And, yeah… I jump around a lot in this story. Bear with me, it should tie together eventually. _

**INTERLUDE / **

_(The skies above were grey; it smelled heavily of rain and smoke. Ahead, there was a smoldering fire. The small, child-like figure walked tentatively towards it, covering her nose. She didn't feel all that much afraid, the fire wouldn't hurt her anymore… but, nonetheless, the smell was overpowering. Her eyes watered.)_

_Girl: (thinking) Stupid Mido… _

_(She reached forward and grabbed a piece of burnt wood, and it crumbled beneath her fingertips. She pulled her hand back and rubbed her fingers together, the soot falling to the ground.)_

_Girl: (thinking) Figures that he'd be too chicken to help clean up this mess._

_(She wasn't mentioning any of the others, really. She reached back to where the wood had been and crushed the remaining bits. As a Kokiri, she did feel a faint sadness, as the children of the forest were quite in tune with the surrounding vegetation, but she had to be practical. If you let yourself feel too bad about things, nothing would get done.)_

_(She went around stomping on the smaller things, getting her vibrant green clothing and skin a strange grey shade. She had to stop when it got too dusty and made her gag.)_

_(She coughed, wiped her forehead. It was still really hot in the area. She looked up at what used to be her friends house. It was beyond repair, she knew, but it was the first time that she was somewhat glad that he was gone and wasn't hurt from the fire.)_

_(She turned around when she heard a crack of a broken branch. Through the bushes burst Rinku, flustered and winded. He gulped largely, coughed when all he inhaled was stagnant dust. His face screwed up and he made a show of it, grabbing at his throat and going bug-eyed. She laughed a bit.)_

_Rinku: Saria why didn't you wake me up? You know I would have helped._

_(She offered a shrug.)_

_Saria: The sun's not even up yet._

_Rinku: So?_

_(She couldn't help herself.)_

_Saria: (Smiling) Oh… you looked too cute to wake up. _

_(He scratched his head with an odd, embarrassed grin. He was quite tall for his fourteen years, which earned him the 'right' to do all the work in the village. Rinku knew that it was unfair, but as he matured the chores seemed much easier than they had when he was a short ten year old. He did feel the odd one out all the time, now, though.)_

_Rinku: So whose house is this? I didn't even know it was here._

_Saria: An old friend of mine. Roland._

_(He puzzled this for a few moments.)_

_Rinku: No offense, but what a funny name!_

_(Saria couldn't help but laugh at this. It was so ironic in ways that he couldn't understand.)_

_Saria: Suit yourself… but Rinku's a pretty funny name, too._

_Rinku: (Offended) Hey!_

_Saria: (Smirking) Hey yourself. You two were a lot alike, actually._

_(He shrugged in nonchalance, and stepped forward, crushing some previously crushed wood and sending up a cloud of soot that covered his legs.)_

_Rinku: Aww… I can't believe no one else is helping you. _

_Saria: Well you know Mido… He didn't really like Roland. No one did, really._

_(It was always interesting for Rinku to hear about stories that dated before his time. Not to say, that it wasn't odd – here was this twelve year old looking kid telling you stories that were sometimes more than twenty or thirty years old.)_

_Rinku: What about you?_

_(She thinks about this as she works, spreading out the dirt evenly to make the mess look a little cleaner. The main point of this job was to get it so that the burnt branches didn't cover up anything that was sprouting, and to get other branches out of the healthy trees surrounding.)_

_(The topic of Roland was a difficult one, for her to speak of.)_

_Saria: He was like you. He was Hylian._

_Rinku: Really?_

_Saria: (Nodding) Yes… I suppose we all distrusted him because of that. It wasn't hidden like it was from you. He knew about it from the get-go, and he was brought here when he was a smaller child than you were. I was different then, but I still considered him a good friend of mine._

_Rinku: What was he like? … Personality wise._

_Saria: Hm… he was very smart. Very clumsy, though. _

_(She laughs.)_

_Saria: He used to trip over nothing._

_Rinku: … That's impossible._

_Saria: Let me assure you… with Roland, it was possible._

_(Rinku thought Roland must have been pretty stupid, but didn't mention it. Saria seemed off when she spoke of him.)_

_(He sought the change the subject, and opened his mouth to speak…)_

_(…but was interrupted by an odd sound.)_

_(It was a small whine. Very faint, but their sharp ears picked it up right away. Rinku looked inquiringly at Saria, and she had the same puzzled look.)_

_(The sound repeated, a little more insistently. It came from above… from inside the smoldered house.)_

_(Rinku arched his eyebrows. Now why would anyone be in there? He looked again at Saria, but she was already headed in that direction. He followed her closely.)_

_(They breathed as shallowly as they could. The dust was thicker in here, and because it was still dim outside it was pitch black in the opening. Saria placed her hand on the sooty trunk and fell through, falling flat on her stomach. The small whine, which had been going on constantly, abruptly stopped.)_

_(Two shining eyes looked at them.)_

_Rinku: (Thinking) … Who is _that

_(The eyes blink, and they could hear movement. Rapid, quick breathing… the figure had moved to the back of the house.)_

_Saria: Hello?_

_(The figure began to speak rapidly is a foreign, lispy speech. Rinku looked again to Saria and she seemed completely concentrated on the language.)_

_(And, much to his surprise, she begins to respond in the same language… Slowly at first, as if unfamiliar with it, but she gradually quickened to the voice's speed.)_

_(Rinku is completely left out as the two have an odd conversation in the dark. He was lost on what they were talking about, and the way it was accented he couldn't tell what they meant. He backed away a little bit, thinking they might want their space.)_

_Saria: Rinku._

_Rinku: … What?_

_Saria: Stay here._

_(He stands helplessly, confused. She resumed the conversation, and for once Rinku could recognize a sort of sympathy in her voice. The other voice was high pitched, but it was a pitch to the point that he couldn't tell the gender. It was all too ambiguous for him.)_

_(Suddenly, though, the figure began to approach them. Rinku and Saria stood stark still as they began to slowly see the features of the person.)_

_Rinku: (Thinking) What the?_

_(He's never seen anyone like it…)_

_(The round ears… slanted eyes. Weird nose.)_

_(What a weird person.)_

_Saria: Ickvathnag?_

_(The child looked frightened, his eyes were huge on his small head. He looked at both of them, trying to see them. Trying to understand.)_

_Child: Fado…_

_**Notes**: I will update soon. This is all the spur I need for the moment._


End file.
